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Texas II Weekend

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« on: November 01, 2007, 08:41:07 am »

Silverado 350K - Texas Motor Speedway
NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Event Schedule

All times shown Local Central - Tentative Schedule - Subject to Change

 Wednesday, October 31st

1:00pm 2:00pm NCTS Haulers Enter

 Thursday, November 1st
6:30am    NCTS Registration Opens
7:00am   NCTS Garage Opens
10:30am     Track Services Meeting (Victory Theater)
11:30am   NCTS Rookie & Spotter Meetings & Drawing for Qualifying Order
12:30pm 1:30pm NCTS Practice
2:00pm 2:30pm NCTS Rookie Practice
2:30pm 3:30pm NCTS Final Practice
7:00pm   NCTS Qualifying (Two Laps, All Positions) Impound
8:00pm   NCTS Registration Closes
9:00pm   NCTS Garage Closes

 Friday, November 2nd
12:00pm   NCTS Garage & Registration Opens
3:30pm   NCTS Driver / Crew Chief Meeting (Victory Theater)
7:35pm   NCTS Driver Introductions - Security Clear Pit Road
8:00pm   NCTS Race (147 Laps, 220.5 Miles)
9:00pm   NCTS Registration Closes

All times shown Local Central - Tentative Schedule - Subject to Change


Dickies 500 - Weekend Schedule

FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 2nd  
9:00 AM   NBS QUALIFYING ORDER DRAWING 
10:00 AM  - 11:00 AM  NBS PRACTICE 1 
11:10 AM  - 11:40 AM  NBS ROOKIE PRACTICE 
11:55 AM  - 12:55 PM  NBS FINAL PRACTICE 
12:00 PM   NNCS QUALIFYING ORDER DRAWING 
1:00 PM  - 2:30 PM  NNCS PRACTICE 1 
4:40 PM   NNCS QUALIFYING (TWO LAPS, ALL POSITIONS) 
6:35 PM   NBS QUALIFYING (TWO LAPS, ALL POSITIONS) IMPOUND 

SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 3rd  
12:00 PM  - 12:50 PM  NNCS PRACTICE 2 
1:50 PM  - 2:50 PM  NNCS FINAL PRACTICE 
3:00 PM   NBS DRIVER INTRODUCTIONS 
3:30 PM   NBS RACE (200 LAPS, 300 MILES) 

SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 4th  
3:00 PM   NNCS DRIVER INTRODUCTIONS 
3:30 PM   NNCS RACE (334 LAPS, 501 MILES) 



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« Reply #1 on: November 01, 2007, 08:42:40 am »

Dickies 500 - The Chase Notes

Chase for the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup – Week 8 at Texas Motor Speedway

THE RACE: Dickies 500 at Texas Motor Speedway (Fort Worth, Texas)

WHEN: Sunday, November 4

TV: ABC

RADIO: MRN, Sirius Satellite Radio

DRIVERS QUALIFIED FOR THE CHASE: Jimmie Johnson, Jeff Gordon, Tony Stewart, Carl Edwards, Kurt Busch, Denny Hamlin, Martin Truex Jr., Matt Kenseth, Kyle Busch, Jeff Burton, Kevin Harvick, Clint Bowyer.

DEFENDING SERIES CHAMPION: Jimmie Johnson

DEFENDING DICKIES 500 CHAMPION: Tony Stewart

CHASE FACTS:

The last 10 races of the 36-race NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series season
12 drivers in the Chase field.
The top 12 drivers in the standings after the season’s 26th race (at Richmond on Sept. Cool qualified for the Chase. Those 12 had their point totals reset at 5,000; they then got 10 bonus points for each race victory prior to the Chase. The bonus points created the Chase “seedings.”
Jimmie Johnson started the Chase as the top seed with 5,060 points, via his six pre-Chase wins. Clint Bowyer, winless starting the Chase, was the 12th and final seed.

SOME STORYLINES:

Three races remain in the 2007 Chase for the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup – with four-time champion Jeff Gordon leading his Hendrick Motorsports teammate Jimmie Johnson by merely nine points. Johnson won Sunday’s race at Atlanta Motor Speedway to slice 44 points off Gordon’s lead.
Upstart Clint Bowyer – he started the Chase in the 12th and final position – continues to hang tough. He comes into Texas 111 points behind Gordon, in third place in the Chase standings.
Jeff Burton, Bowyer’s teammate at Richard Childress Racing, is eighth in the Chase standings and has to feel good about his chances of advancing; he won this season’s spring race at Texas.
Tony Stewart is the defending champion of the Dickies 500. His run at a third series title has diminished; he comes to Texas 322 points behind Gordon, a very-distant fifth in the Chase.

THE CHASE SCHEDULE (track sizes in parentheses)
Sept. 16—New Hampshire (1.058 miles); Sept. 23—Dover (1 mile); Sept. 30—Kansas (1.5 miles); Oct. 7—Talladega (2.66 miles); Oct. 13—Charlotte (1.5 miles); Oct. 21—Martinsville (.526 mile); Oct. 28—Atlanta (1.54 miles); Nov. 4—Texas (1.5 miles); Nov. 11—Phoenix (1 mile); Nov. 18—Homestead (1.5 miles).

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« Reply #2 on: November 01, 2007, 08:45:46 am »

Dickies 500 - Raybestos Rookie Notes

NEWS AND NOTES FROM THE RAYBESTOS® ROOKIE CONTENDERS – NASCAR NEXTEL CUP SERIES


AJ Allmendinger was the Raybestos® Rookie of the Race in the October 28 Pep Boys Auto 500 at Atlanta (Ga.) Motor Speedway. Allmendinger finished 16th and took top rookie honors for the second time in the last three races. He also led the race once for one lap, the first time he has led in 16 NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series starts.

Juan Pablo Montoya leads David Ragan by 19 points (232-213) in the Raybestos® Rookie standings entering the November 4 Dickies 500 at Texas Motor Speedway.
Montoya is 20th in the NEXTEL Cup Series championship standings, 34 points behind 19th-place Jamie McMurray.
Montoya was the top Raybestos® Rookie in the April 15 Samsung 500 at Texas, scoring an eighth-place finish.

Clint Bowyer was the Raybestos® Rookie of the Race in the 2006 Dickies 500. Bowyer scored a fifth-place finish and is the only Raybestos® Rookie to score a top-five in two fall races at Texas.

DID YOU KNOW? Only once in 13 previous races at Texas has a Raybestos® Rookie won the race. Dale Earnhardt Jr. scored his first career NEXTEL Cup Series win by 5.920 seconds over Jeff Burton in the 2000 spring race. Earnhardt Jr. also led the most laps in the race (six times for 106 laps).

DID YOU KNOW? Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Kasey Kahne are the only Raybestos® Rookies to lead the most laps in 13 NEXTEL Cup race at Texas.
The best start by a Raybestos® Rookie in 13 previous races at Texas is third by Kasey Kahne in the 2004 spring race.
The best start by a Raybestos® Rookie in two previous fall races at Texas is sixth by Denny Hamlin in 2006. RAYBESTOS® ROOKIE HISTORY

Ryan Newman holds the all-time Raybestos® Rookie record for most poles (6), most top-fives (14) and most top-10s (22).
Denny Hamlin is the only Raybestos® Rookie to qualify for the Chase for the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup since the program was created in 2004.
Hamlin holds the record for most earnings by a Raybestos® Rookie ($6.6 million in 2006).

The record for most wins by a Raybestos® Rookie is three, shared by Tony Stewart (1999) and Jimmie Johnson (2002).
A Raybestos® Rookie has posted multiple victories SEVEN times in NASCAR NEXTEL Cup: 1987: Davey Allison, two 1999: Tony Stewart, three 2000: Dale Earnhardt Jr., two 2001: Kevin Harvick, two 2002: Jimmie Johnson, three 2005: Kyle Busch, two 2006: Denny Hamlin, two

More than one Raybestos® Rookie has posted victories in their rookie season only three times: Morgan Shepherd and Ron Bouchard (one each in 1981), Dale Earnhardt Jr. (two) and Matt Kenseth (2000), Jimmie Johnson (three) and Ryan Newman (2002).

The way to the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup championship is to win Raybestos® Rookie of the Year. Since 1979, six Raybestos® Rookie of the Year drivers have gone on to win a NASCAR NEXTEL Cup title: Dale Earnhardt (1979), Rusty Wallace (1984), Alan Kulwicki (1986), Jeff Gordon (1993), Tony Stewart (1999, 2005) and Matt Kenseth (2000).
At least one Raybestos® Rookie has won a Bud Pole in each of the last 11 years (1996-2006).

The longest streak for a Raybestos® Rookie to be in the top-10 in the NEXTEL Cup Series championship standings during the sport’s modern-era is 60 races (2001 MBNA Platinum 400 through 2002 Ford 400).

RAYBESTOS® ROOKIE CONTENDER POINT STANDINGS
DRIVER POINTS
Juan Pablo Montoya 232
David Ragan 213
Paul Menard 187
David Reutimann 170
AJ Allmendinger 153

HIGHEST-FINISHING RAYBESTOS® ROOKIE BY RACE
EVENT HIGHEST-FINISHING ROOKIE
Daytona 500 Ragan, fifth
Auto Club 500 Ragan, 16th

UAW-DaimlerChrysler 400 Montoya, 22nd
Kobalt Tools 500 Montoya, fifth
Food City 500 Ragan, 26th
Goody’s Cool Orange 500 Ragan, 15th

Samsung 500 Montoya, eighth
Subway Fresh Fit 500 Menard, 25th
Aaron’s 499 Ragan, 17th
Crown Royal 400 Menard, 16th
Dodge Avenger 500 Montoya, 23rd
Coca-Cola 600 Montoya, 28th
Autism Speaks 400 Ragan, 14th
Pocono 500 Montoya, 20th
Citizens Bank 400 Menard, 12th
Toyota/Save Mart 350 Montoya, FIRST!
LENOX Industrial Tools 300 Ragan, 15th
Pepsi 400 Ragan, 12th

USG SHEETROCK 400 Montoya, 15th
Allstate 400 at The Brickyard Montoya, second
Pennsylvania 500 Montoya, 16th
Centurion Boats at The Glen Menard, 19th
3M Performance 400 Ragan, 18th
Sharpie 500 Montoya, 17th
Sharp AQUOS 500 Ragan, 12th
Chevy Rock & Roll 400 Ragan, third
Sylvania 300 Ragan, 19th

Dodge Dealers 400 Montoya, 10th
LifeLock 400 Ragan, 16th
UAW-Ford 500 Montoya, 15th
Bank of America 500 Allmendinger, 15th
Subway 500 Montoya, eighth
Pep Boys 500 Auto 500 Allmendinger, 16th
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« Reply #3 on: November 01, 2007, 08:49:25 am »

NEXTEL Cup Series News & Notes - Texas

Four Chase Drivers Know What It Takes At Texas
Three To Go: Gordon And Johnson Setting The Pace
Junior Looks To Fill Spoiler Role And Get First Win This Season
On The Bubble: No. 22 Holding On To The Top 35
Jeff Burton Joins Us On The Weekly NASCAR Teleconference
NASCAR Official Joe Collins Will Be Missed
The Chase Drivers Get Ready For The Texas Two-Step

 
   
 
 
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (Oct. 31, 2007) – Since inception into the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup schedule in 1997, Texas Motor Speedway has been a wild card. Of the 13 races at Texas, only Jeff Burton (No. 31 AT&T Mobility Chevrolet) has won more than once. Ten years have gone by since the first green flag dropped at Texas and twelve different drivers have strolled into Victory Lane. Four of the twelve Chase drivers have reached the summit at Texas, but can those four do it again this weekend?

Of the other eight drivers in the Chase that haven’t won at Texas, the most surprising are the top three drivers in the standings. Jeff Gordon (No. 24 DuPont Chevrolet) has five top fives at Texas, the most of any Chase driver. Earlier this season, Gordon started on the pole and finished fourth.

With two consecutive wins Jimmie Johnson (No. 48 Lowe’s Chevrolet) has closed the gap between first and second to only nine points. Johnson has three top-five and six top-10 finishes at Texas.

Clint Bowyer (No. 07 Jack Daniels Chevrolet) hasn’t won at Texas either in the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series, but he has been to Victory Lane at Texas in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series driving the Jack Daniels truck for owner David Dollar. He currently is 111 points behind Gordon and 102 points behind Johnson.

These next four Chase drivers have grabbed elusive Texas wins:

Tony Stewart (No. 20 Home Depot Chevrolet) won the Dickies 500 last year on a late season run when he won three of the last ten races in 2006. Stewart dominated the race starting eighth and leading 278 of the 334 laps.
Jeff Burton captured his only win of this season at Texas in the spring, becoming the first driver to repeat at the track. Ironically, he was the first driver ever to win at the 1.5-mile track. Currently in eighth, Burton had a boost this past weekend with a fifth-place finish at Atlanta – his second top five in the Chase.
Carl Edwards (No. 99 Office Depot Ford) captured a second-place finish at Atlanta Motor Speedway last weekend, moving him up to fourth in the Chase standings. That top five just might be the spark to get this team turned around to make a late run at the championship. Edwards won at Texas in 2005 by edging teammate Matt Kenseth (No. 17 USG Ford) and then teammate Mark Martin (No. 01 U.S, Army Chevrolet). Earlier this year Edwards finished 12th at Texas.
Matt Kenseth is coming off his second consecutive top five. He is the fourth driver in the Chase to have won at Texas. Of the Chase drivers, Kenseth has the second-most top fives at Texas with four, and earlier this season finished second at Texas. I
n that spring race, Kenseth led 16 laps and was on his way to his second victory of the season before Burton passed him on the final lap.

Chase for the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Notebook, Week 8

Time Grows Short – 3 to Go … With only three races to go, time is of the essence for the Chase drivers to make up every point they can on standings leader Jeff Gordon. All 12 Chase drivers are still mathematically eligible for the championship, though Gordon and Jimmie Johnson are setting a devastating pace. The Hendrick Motorsports teammates have won the last four races in the Chase and have the closest point margin between first and second since the Chase’s inception in 2004.

Two more hurdles for those not named Gordon and Johnson: 1) Only Johnson has come back to win the championship (2006) with three races to go. 2) Gordon and Johnson are showing no signs of slowing down. Gordon has five top fives at Texas, one win and eight top fives at Phoenix, and three top fives at Homestead-Miami Speedway. Johnson, not far behind, has three top fives at Texas, three top fives at Phoenix, and two top fives at Homestead-Miami.

NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Testing In Atlanta
… NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series teams completed the second day of a two-day test Tuesday at Atlanta Motor Speedway. The seventh and final NASCAR-sanctioned test of ‘07, it was dedicated to NASCAR’s “new car” – the next-generation race car which will compete fulltime in 2008. Teams will run 16 of 36 events this season with the new car.

Although this week’s session was the new car’s first full-scale series test at a 1.5-mile track, it wasn’t a first for Jeff Burton who participated in one of the earliest fact-finding tests for the new car at Atlanta. He discussed the evolution during a Tuesday lunch-break visit to Atlanta’s media center, citing the wing as the most significant change.

“From the wing standpoint it's come a long way,” Burton said. “There are a lot of little things that have happened since then, but no real big ones as seen by me, other than the wing. And we're still in the exploratory phase at that point, splitter links, all that. They've made a lot of changes, but the wing being the biggest one.”

Other Tuesday media-center visitors included Dario Franchitti (No. 40 Chip Ganassi Racing Dodge), Jacques Villeneuve (No. 27 Bill Davis Racing Dodge) and Patrick Carpentier (No. 10 Gillett Evernham Motorsports Dodge). All are former open-wheel stars who will compete fulltime in the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series in ‘08.

Franchitti, the reigning Indy Racing League and Indianapolis 500 champion, was participating in his first new-car test.

“Interesting,” he said. “It seems like in the mornings we do better than in the afternoons. There's a little more grip and it feels slightly closer to what I'm used to. In the afternoons when the track gets really slick, the car's moving around a lot more and the thing I'm getting used to is fighting the limit of this car.”

Outside The Chase: Junior Looking For First Win This Season
Drivers outside the Chase for the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup field are lining up to play the role of spoiler this week at Texas. At the head of the line is Dale Earnhardt Jr. (No. 8 Budweiser Chevrolet).

Earnhardt has been suffering through a 59 race winless streak dating back to May 6, 2006 at Richmond, but he should have a good chance of ending the slump this Sunday. Texas is the site of his first win in the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series (April 2, 2000). Earnhardt Jr. has won at least once in all of his first seven seasons of competing in the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series making these last three races critical for him if he wants to keep the streak alive.

“We've done so many good things this year as a team and I've been given the most consistently fast cars of my career and the only thing lacking is a victory,” said Earnhardt. “Texas is definitely a place where we can resolve that problem. There are so many good memories for all of us at that place – not just the first win – but almost every race since then we've been a top-10 car,” said Earnhardt Jr. Earnhardt Jr. has seven top-10 finishes at Texas.

On The Bubble: No. 22 Looks To Get Back On Track
Consecutive top-10 finishes at Talladega and Lowe’s Motor Speedway put the No. 22 Caterpillar Toyota comfortably in the top 35, but recent struggles at Martinsville and Atlanta have put its guaranteed spot in the field in jeopardy.

The No. 22, owned by Bill Davis and driven by Dave Blaney, has failed to crack the top 30 in each of the last two races and now sits only 82 points ahead of the No. 21 Delimex Ford (owned by Glen Wood and driven by Bill Elliott) in the owner point standings.

Though Blaney’s best finish at Texas was sixth in 2001, he hasn’t landed in the top 20 in any of the last five Texas races. Elliott’s best Texas finish was ninth in 2002. His last race there was in 2005, a 32nd-place finish.

Also looking to stay in the top 35 is the No. 45 National Tire & Battery Dodge owned and driven by Kyle Petty. The No. 45 is 168 points ahead of the cutoff.

The top 35 teams in the owner standings are guaranteed automatic starting spots each week. Other teams must earn their berths based on qualifying speeds.

2007 NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series Owner Points – After 33 Races

Pos. Points Team Owner Driver
30th 2,747 No. 66 Chevrolet Joe Custer Jeremy Mayfield
31st 2,724 No. 88 Ford Robert Yates Ricky Rudd
32nd 2,699 No. 38 Ford Robert Yates David Gilliland
33rd 2,654 No. 70 Chevrolet Joe Custer Johnny Sauter
34th 2,640 No. 45 Dodge Kyle Petty Kyle Petty

35th 2,554 No. 22 Toyota Bill Davis Dave Blaney

36th 2,472 No. 21 Ford Glen Wood Bill Elliott
37th 2,266 No. 10 Dodge James Rocco Scott Riggs
38th 2,149 No. 00 Toyota Cal Wells David Reutimann
39th 2,120 No. 83 Toyota Dietrich Mateschitz Brian Vickers
40th 1,759 No. 55 Toyota Buffy Waltrip Michael Waltrip

Keys To Victory
Texas Motor Speedway

This week Greg Zipadelli talks about what it takes to be successful at Texas:
“Texas is a race track to me that has aged really well. The last few years, it has widened down and the tires have gotten better for the cars. It usually has gotten cooler when we go back the second time, which means there is a little more grip. The track doesn’t seem to be as sensitive to change in the fall as it is in the spring, because of the sun. You got to have a great car with a good body, a really good motor program and a driver that is willing to move around a little bit. As the race goes, you are able to move up the race track and the beginning of a run you run at the bottom. Not anywhere near as much as you see people run at Atlanta, but it just kind of turns out to be like that.”

In The Loop: Texas Hold ‘Em: Johnson And Gordon Looking For First TMS Win
The biggest names in NASCAR seem to save some of their biggest performances for Texas Motor Speedway.

So, yes, everything is bigger in Texas.

For instance, the top four drivers (and seven of the top 10) in pre-race Driver Rating are currently in the Chase for the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup.

A total of nine NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series championships have been won by drivers in the top 10 of the pre-race Texas Driver Rating.

But this weekend, as was the case the last two, all attention will be on point leader Jeff Gordon and second-place driver Jimmie Johnson.

Nine points separate the two. They’ve combined to win the last four races this season, yet oddly enough trips to Texas’ Victory Lane have eluded both.

Still, each have solid performances at Texas since the inception of Loop Data in 2005.

As was the case at Martinsville and Atlanta, Johnson owns the edge. Johnson has a Driver Rating of 99.9 (fourth-best), an Average Running Position of 11.0 (fourth-best), 71 Fastest Laps Run (seventh-most) and has spent 72.8% of the total Laps Run in the Top 15 (fourth-most).

Texas is one of two tracks (Homestead is the other) where Gordon has yet to win. Still, has two top-10 finishes there, including a fourth-place finish earlier this season. Since 2005, Gordon has a pre-race Texas Driver Rating of 92.3 (ninth-best), an Average Running Position of 12.5 (11th-best) and 85 Fastest Laps run (fourth-most).

The driver with the top statistics at Texas is the defending champion of this race – Tony Stewart. Stewart could break out of a mini-slump this weekend (he hasn’t notched a top five since New Hampshire). He owns top marks in Driver Rating (113.6), Average Running Position (6.9), Fastest Laps Run (192) and Laps in the Top 15 (89.3%).

NNCS, Etc.

On The Line: Jeff Burton On Weekly NASCAR Teleconference
Chase for the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup competitor Jeff Burton was the guest on Tuesday’s weekly NASCAR Teleconference. Burton comes into this week’s Dickies 500 in eighth place in the Chase for the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup standings with three races remaining in the season.

Burton is coming off a fifth-place run at Atlanta, and is the only repeat winner at Texas.

Following are some highlights from the teleconference:

Q: So what do you think, Jeff, going back there?

Burton: Well, certainly we've had a lot of success at Texas. It's kind of been either really good or really bad for me. Not many just mediocre runs. We haven't run as well over the last three or four months as we'd like to run for sure. So as the year winds down, the intensity of wanting to have some good runs and running in the front just continues to build.

Obviously we're pretty much out of the championship hunt, but fifth is better than ninth. And 10 is better than 12. So we're going to go get all we can and try to get back on track.

Q: The top two teams in the sport, I guess you'd call them that, Jeff Gordon and Jimmie Johnson, aren't here for this test. Do you look at that as an opportunity to gain two days of testing on them or would you rather to have them here so you can spy on them a little, see what they're doing?

Burton: What it shows to me is their confidence in their program. They're comfortable with giving up two days of testing at a racetrack that we have the right tires, we have the right racetrack. It's the best conditions you'll ever get for a test. They have the confidence that they can do that and still be in good shape.

So that has a way of, to me, in some ways saying to the world, hey, we're in good shape. In other ways the competitors look at it two different ways. You can look at it as, hey, they're lazy and they don't have focus on what they ought to have focus on, which isn't how I look at it. Or you can look at it as some people look at it as kind of an arrogant standpoint.

I don't view it like that. I believe that they just have confidence in their program. And that they don't have to be here to be successful. That's the way I view it. But it has – a few people have taken note and have not been impressed. Others have been impressed.

Montoya Maintaining Rookie Points Lead
Juan Pablo Montoya (No. 42 Texaco/Havoline Dodge) continues to lead the Raybestos Rookie of the Year point standings over David Ragan (No. 6 AAA Ford). Montoya finished 34th at Atlanta, yet still boosted his lead to 19 points (232-213).

Manufacturers’ Standings
Chevrolet still has a firm hold on the Manufacturers’ standings, leading Ford by 81 points after another victory by Jimmie Johnson. The win gave Chevrolet totaling 24 victories on the year.

Save The Date: Kevin Harvick Day
Kevin Harvick, (No. 29 Shell/Pennzoil Chevrolet) team owner Richard Childress, and team members will make an appearance at Houston’s City Hall on the morning of November 1st with the City Mayor Bill White to proclaim Nov. 1st as officially Kevin Harvick Day.

The ceremony will start at 11 a.m. on Thursday, at the Houston, City Hall. Harvick, Childress and officials from Shell and Pennzoil will be speaking at the event.

Harvick and Childress will then make their way to Shell offices in northern Houston to judge a chili cook-off.

NACAR Official Joe Collins passes away
NASCAR lost one of its dear people and loyal servants when Joe Collins passed away Oct. 25 at the age of 65. Joe served NASCAR for more than 25 years in a variety of capacities, including official and Weekly Series Racing Director. A native of Alabama, Joe worked for the railroad for 20 years before working with NASCAR. He and his wife of 46 years – Barbara – have a son and a daughter and three grandsons. NASCAR’s thoughts and prayers go out to the Collins’ family.

NASCAR officials are the unsung heroes of our sport. The officials show up when the gates open in the morning and stay long after all the crowds have gone home. During the races they are the ones in the middle of the action making sure the race runs smoothly and that all the competitors are on a fair and level playing field. They make split decisions and call it like they see it. The NASCAR officials work long and hard to make sure NASCAR produces the greatest racing in the world. Joe Collins was a big part of that and he will be dearly missed.

Fast Facts
The Race: Dickies 500
The Place: Texas Motor Speedway
The Date: Sunday, Nov. 4
The Time: 3:30 p.m. (ET)
TV: ABC, 3 p.m. (ET)
Radio: PRN; SIRIUS Satellite Radio, Channel 128
The Track: 1.5-mile oval
The Distance: 501 miles, 334 laps
The Purse: $7,255,977
2006 Polesitter: Brian Vickers
2006 Winner: Tony Stewart

Series Standings
Pos. Driver Pts.
1 Gordon 6,201
2 Johnson 6,192
3 Bowyer 6,090
4 Edwards 5,940
5 Stewart 5,879
6 Kyle Busch 5,873
7 Harvick 5,809
8 Burton 5,801
9 Kurt Busch 5,782
10 Hamlin 5,777
11 Kenseth 5,753
12 Truex Jr. 5,688

Pre-Race On-Track Schedule (ET): Friday—Practice, 12-1:30 p.m. Qualifying, 3:40 p.m.; Saturday—Practice, 11-11:50 a.m. and 12:50-1:50 p.m.

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« Reply #4 on: November 01, 2007, 08:51:30 am »

Dickies 500 - Entry List

Car  Driver  Hometown  Team  Owner 

00  David Reutimann  Zephyrhills, FL  Domino's Toyota  Cal Wells 
1  Martin Truex Jr  Mayetta, NJ  Bass Pro Shops / Tracker Chevrolet  Teresa Earnhardt 
01  Mark Martin  Batesville, AR  U.S. Army Chevrolet  Bobby Ginn 
2  Kurt Busch  Las Vegas, NV  Miller Lite Dodge  Roger Penske 
4  Ward Burton  South Boston, VA  State Water Heaters Chevrolet  James Finch 
5  Kyle Busch  Las Vegas, NV  CARQUEST/Kellogg's Chevrolet  Rick Hendrick 
David Ragan  Unadilla, GA  AAA Ford  Mike Dee 
07  Clint Bowyer  Emporia, KS  Jack Daniel's Chevrolet  Richard Childress 
7  Robby Gordon  Cerritos, CA  Menards/Mapei Ford  Robby Gordon 
8  Dale Earnhardt Jr  Kannapolis, NC  Budweiser Chevrolet  Teresa Earnhardt 
08  Burney Lamar  West Sacramento, CA  TBA Dodge  John Carter 
9  Kasey Kahne  Enumclaw, WA  Dodge Dealers / UAW Dodge  Ray Evernham 
10  Scott Riggs  Durham, NC  Stanley Tools/Valvoline Dodge  James Rocco 
11  Denny Hamlin  Chesterfield, VA  FedEx Kinko's Chevrolet  J.D. Gibbs 
12  Ryan Newman  South Bend, IN  Alltel Dodge  Roger Penske 
15  Paul Menard  Eau Claire, WI  Menards Chevrolet  Bobby Ginn 
16  Greg Biffle   Vancouver, WA  Jackson Hewitt Ford  Jack Roush 
17 Matt Kenseth   Cambridge, WI  USG Ford  John Henry 
18  J.J. Yeley  Phoenix, AZ  Interstate Batteries Chevrolet  Joe Gibbs 
19  Elliott Sadler  Emporia, VA  Dodge Dealers / UAW Dodge  Ray Evernham 
20  Tony Stewart  Columbus, IN  The Home Depot Chevrolet  Joe Gibbs 
21  Bill Elliott  Dawsonville, GA  DeliMex Ford  Glen Wood 
22  Dave Blaney  Hartford, OH  Caterpillar Toyota  Bill Davis 
24  Jeff Gordon  Pittsboro, IN  DuPont Chevrolet  Rick Hendrick 
25  Casey Mears  Bakersfield, CA  National Guard/GMAC Chevrolet  Mary Hendrick 
26  Jamie McMurray  Joplin, MO  Crown Royal Ford  Geoff Smith 
29  Kevin Harvick  Bakersfield, CA  Shell-Pennzoil Chevrolet  Richard Childress 
31  Jeff Burton  South Boston, VA  AT&T Mobility Chevrolet  Richard Childress 
34  Kevin Lepage  Shelburne, VT  TBA Dodge  Bob Jenkins 
36  Johnny Benson  Grand Rapids, MI  360 OTC Toyota  Bill Davis 
38  David Gilliland  Riverside, CA  M&M's Ford  Robert Yates 
40  David Stremme  South Bend, IN  Homelife Communities Dodge  Felix Sabates 
41  Reed Sorenson  Peachtree City, GA  Target Dodge  Chip Ganassi 
42  Juan Pablo Montoya  Bogota, CO  Texaco/Havoline Dodge  Floyd Ganassi 
43  Bobby Labonte  Corpus Christi, TX  Cheerios-Spoonful of Stories Dodge  Richard Petty 
44  Dale Jarrett  Hickory, NC  UPS Toyota  Michael Waltrip 
45  Kyle Petty  Randleman, NC  National Tire & Battery Dodge  Kyle Petty 
48  Jimmie Johnson  El Cajon, CA  Lowe's Chevrolet  Jeff Gordon 
49  John Andretti  Indianapolis, IN  Paralyzed Veterans of America Dodge  Beth Ann Morgenthau 
55  Michael Waltrip  Owensboro, KY  NAPA Auto Parts Toyota  Elizabeth Waltrip 
66  Jeremy Mayfield  Owensboro, KY  Best Buy Chevrolet  Joe Custer 
70  Johnny Sauter  Necedah, WI  Yellow Transportation Chevrolet  Joe Custer 
78  Joe Nemechek  Lakeland, FL  Furniture Row Chevrolet  Barney Visser 
83  Brian Vickers  Thomasville, NC  Red Bull Toyota  Dietrich Mateschitz 
84  AJ Allmendinger  Los Gatos, CA  Red Bull Toyota  Dietrich Mateschitz 
88 Ricky Rudd  Chesapeake, VA  Snickers Ford  Robert Yates 
96  Tony Raines  LaPorte, IN  DLP HDTV Chevrolet  Bill Saunders 
99  Carl Edwards  Columbia, MO  Office Depot Ford  Georgetta Roush 


# - Rookie
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« Reply #5 on: November 01, 2007, 08:55:54 am »

O'Reilly Challenge - Raybestos Rookie Notes

NEWS AND NOTES FROM THE RAYBESTOS® ROOKIE CONTENDERS – NASCAR BUSCH SERIES

David Ragan was the Raybestos® Rookie of the Race in the October 27 Sam’s Town 250 at Memphis (Millington, Tenn.) Motorsports Park. Ragan posted a third-place finish, his fourth top-five and ninth top-10 in 2007. He claimed Raybestos® Rookie of the Race honors for the 11th time in 32 races.

Ragan was joined in the top-five by fellow Raybestos® Rookie Marcos Ambrose. Ambrose scored a fourth-place finish, his best effort this season.
 
The Memphis race marked the second time this season TWO Raybestos® Rookies finished inside the top-five. The other race was the Aaron’s 312 at Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway (race No. 10) where Ragan finished fourth ahead of fifth-place Kyle Krisiloff.
Brad Keselowski finished ninth at Memphis, his fourth top-10 in 2007.
Ambrose won the pole at Memphis, his first in 32 Busch Series races. He becomes the THIRD Raybestos® Rookie to win a pole this season, joining Ragan (Texas, race No. Cool and Brad Coleman (Talladega).

Ragan leads Marcos Ambrose by 31 points (232-201) in the Raybestos® Rookie standings entering the November 3 O’Reilly Challenge at Texas Motor Speedway.

THE STREAK CONTINUES: At least two Raybestos® Rookies have been in the top-10 in the NASCAR Busch Series championship standings for 17 consecutive races, dating back to Kentucky (race No. 16).
Ragan is fifth in the Busch Series championship standings, best of any Raybestos® Rookie. He is 59 points behind fourth-place Kevin Harvick and 151 ahead of sixth-place Bobby Hamilton Jr.

Ambrose is eighth in the standings, 51 points behind seventh-place Stephen Leicht and 16 ahead of ninth-place Greg Biffle.
Ambrose has captured WIX Filters Lap Leader of the Race honors twice this season: Montreal (race No. 23) and Las Vegas (race No. 4). Other Raybestos® Rookies to capture the honor: Brad Coleman (Talladega and Kentucky, race No. 16) and Juan Pablo Montoya (Mexico City, race No. 3).

DID YOU KNOW? TWO Raybestos® Rookies have won pole positions this season: David Ragan at Texas (race No. Cool and Brad Coleman at Talladega.
Ragan was the top Raybestos® Rookie in the April14 O’Reilly 300 at Texas, scoring a fifth-place finish.
Todd Kluever was the Raybestos® Rookie of the Race at in the 2006 O’Reilly Challenge 300, scoring a 10th-place finish.
The best finish by a Raybestos® Rookie in two fall races at Texas is third by Carl Edwards in the 2005 O’Reilly Challenge at Texas.

Top-five finishes by Raybestos® Rookies in the fall race at Texas:
2005: Carl Edwards, third
2005: Reed Sorenson, fourth

Top-10 finishes by Raybestos® Rookies in the fall race at Texas:
2005: Carl Edwards, third
2005: Reed Sorenson, fourth
2006: Todd Kluever, 10th

Reed Sorenson is the only Raybestos® Rookie to lead a lap in two fall races at Texas. Sorenson led the 2005 O’Reilly Challenge once for three laps.
The best qualifying effort by a Raybestos® Rookie in the fall race at Texas is third by Stephen Leicht in 2006.

RAYBESTOS® ROOKIE HISTORY

A Raybestos® Rookie has won at least one race in each of the past FOUR consecutive seasons (2004-2007).
Danny O’Quinn Jr. narrowly edged John Andretti to win the 2006 Raybestos® Rookie of the Year title in the NASCAR Busch Series. O’Quinn Jr. finished one point higher than Andretti in the final standings, the closet margin in NASCAR national series history. He also became the second driver in series history to win the award without completing the full schedule. The 2006 Raybestos® Rookie of the Year title was the second consecutive and third overall for Roush Fenway Racing in the Busch Series.
 
Kyle Busch posted a record-setting year on his way to the 2004 Raybestos® Rookie of the Year title. In 34 starts, Busch won five times, captured five poles and scored 16 top-five and 22 top-10 finishes. His second-place finish in the Busch Series championship standings is a record for a Raybestos® Rookie. Other Raybestos® Rookie records Busch owns or shares: most starts (34), most wins (tied with Biffle), most top fives (tied with Biffle), most top 10s, most money won ($2,027,050), most championship points (4,943), most laps led (1,108) and most races led (21).

David Stremme holds the record for fewest starts by a driver to win Raybestos® Rookie of the Year. In 2003, he started just 18 of the 34 races and was the top rookie finisher in 16 of those starts. He was the only Raybestos® Rookie to score three top-three finishes and had more top-10 finishes (seven) than any other first-year driver. He led six races for a total of 86 laps.

David Green was the first Raybestos® Rookie to win a race, at Lanier, Ga., in 1991. Green captured the Nestle 200 by 1.58-seconds over Jeff Gordon, a fellow Raybestos® Rookie. A third Raybestos® Rookie, Todd Bodine, placed eighth in the race.

Dennis Setzer was the first Raybestos® Rookie to win TWO or more races in a season. In 1994, he won the Ford Credit 300 at South Boston (Va.) Speedway and The Pantry 300 at Hickory (N.C.) Motor Speedway.

Steve Park was the first Raybestos® Rookie to win THREE or more races in a season. In 1997, he won the BellSouth Mobility/Opryland 300 at Nashville (Tenn.) Speedway, the Detroit Gasket 200 at Michigan International Speedway and the Autolite Platinum 250 at Richmond (Va.) International Raceway.
Kenny Wallace was the first Raybestos® Rookie to win a pole in the Busch Series. Wallace grabbed the top starting spot for the 1989 Goody’s 300 at Daytona (Fla.) International Speedway, the first race in the history of the Raybestos® Rookie of the Year program.

RAYBESTOS® ROOKIE CONTENDER POINT STANDINGS
DRIVER POINTS
David Ragan 232
Marcos Ambrose 201
Kyle Krisiloff 178
Brad Keselowski 170
Juan Pablo Montoya 165
Brad Coleman 163
Robert Richardson Jr. 107
Justin Diercks 51

HIGHEST-FINISHING RAYBESTOS® ROOKIE BY RACE
EVENT HIGHEST-FINISHING ROOKIE
ORBITZ 300 Ambrose, 16th
Stater Bros. 300 Peters, 17th
Telcel-Motorola 200 Montoya, FIRST
Sam’s Town 300 Ambrose, 10th
Nicorette 300 Montoya, eighth
Sharpie Mini 300 Ragan, 13th
Pepsi 300 Coleman, 15th
O’Reilly 300 Ragan, fifth
Bashas’ Supermarkets 200 Montoya, 21st
Aaron’s 312 Ragan, fourth
Circuit City 250 Montoya, 11th
Diamond Hill Plywood 200 Ragan, 13th
CARQUEST Auto Parts 300 Ambrose, 20th
Dover 200 Ambrose, sixth

Federated Auto Parts 300 Ragan, seventh
Meijer 300 presented by Oreo Coleman, second
AT&T 250 Coleman, fourth
Camping World 200 Ragan, 18th
Winn-Dixie 250 Krisiloff, 20th
USG DUROCK 300 Keselowski, 14th
Busch 250 Ragan, fifth
Kroger 200 Keselowski, 10th
NAPA Auto Parts 200 Krisiloff, sixth
Zippo 200 at The Glen Coleman, fifth
CARFAX 250 Keselowski, 13th
Food City 250 Ragan, sixth
Camping World 300 Ragan, 10th

Emerson Radio 250 Ambrose, 15th
RoadLoans.com 200 Keselowski, seventh
Yellow Transportation 300 Krisiloff, 28th
Dollar General 300 Ragan, sixth
Sam’s Town 250 Ragan, third


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« Reply #6 on: November 01, 2007, 08:59:41 am »

Busch Series News & Notes - Texas

Edwards Tries Yet Again To Clinch First National Series Championship
Wallace Hopes To Fend Off Kenseth For Spot In Final Rankings
In The Loop: Reutimann Looks To Play Spoiler To Edwards
Same Only Different: Franchitti, Hornish Jr. Meet At Texas
Champion’s Week Media Activities Dec. 6-7 In Orlando
No Lead Too Large: Edwards Tries To Close Out Title Once Again
   
 
 
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (Oct. 31, 2007) – Following the race at Gateway International Raceway last July, Carl Edwards (No. 60 Dish Network Ford) had an 852-point lead over second-place David Reutimann (No. 99 Aaron’s Dream Machine Toyota) in the NASCAR Busch Series standings.

He commented at the time that no lead was too large because no lead is ever safe.

Many eyes rolled over that remark.

Now, with three races left in the season, Edwards’ statement doesn’t seem so far-fetched.

His lead over Reutimann is still stout at 531 points, but his luck lately has been anything but.

Three weeks ago in Charlotte, he was seemingly en route to clinching the title when he was caught up in an incident on Lap 133, ending that opportunity. Last Saturday at Memphis he was forced to start from the rear of the field following a driver change upon his arrival from Atlanta and his NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series duties after substitute driver Matt McCall qualified the No. 60 Ford.

There, he was involved in two incidents that looked to knock him out of a clinch chance. He rallied, but a spin with less than 10 laps left relegated him to 25th –- the seventh finish of 25th or worse in his last 10 races.

To clinch, he needs to leave Texas with a 390-point lead over Reutimann. If he finishes 36th or better, 37th and leads at least one lap, or 39th and leads the most laps, he will become the 2007 NASCAR Busch Series champion – finally.

His luck could very well change at Texas, where he finished third last spring. In five races there, he has three top-five and four top-10 finishes. He also won the fall race last year in NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series competition.

Texas Two-Step: Wallace, Kenseth In Three-Race Showdown For 10th
Series regular Mike Wallace (No. 7 GEICO Chevrolet) comes to Texas in 10th place in the point standings, 102 points ahead of 11th-place Matt Kenseth (No. 17 I Level Ford). Kenseth is scheduled to compete in the final three races of the season, making Saturday’s race the first of three showdowns between the two drivers.

Even though he’s got a substantial cushion heading into the O’Reilly Challenge, Wallace has the law of averages to overcome in order to capture a coveted spot in the final top 10.

In the 21 races the two drivers have competed in together this season, Kenseth has an average finish of 11.1 while Wallace’s average finish is 23.8. Kenseth has two wins, one of which came at Texas this past spring. He has two wins overall at Texas (2004).

Wallace has competed in at least one race in the series over the last 18 seasons, but 2007 is only his fourth full-time campaign.

In The Loop: Reutimann Hopes To Postpone Edwards’ Title Clinch Once More
Can David Reutimann accomplish the improbable and delay Carl Edwards’ quest to clinch the NASCAR Busch Series championship for a third consecutive week? Yes he can. It will be tough but here’s how he can do it:

Step One: Control what he can control. Reutimann first has to worry about his own performance. That’s exactly what he did at Memphis by winning, leading the most laps and earning a perfect Driver Rating of 150.0.

His past Texas performances suggest he’ll run well this weekend. Reutimann has competed three times at Texas in the NASCAR Busch Series, averaging a finish of 14.7 – and he has been strong of late, notching a sixth-place result this past spring. In his two Texas races since 2005, Reutimann has a Driver Rating of 85.1, an Average Running Position of 14.0 and has run 55% of the total laps in the top 15.

Step Two: Get lucky. Edwards needs to finish 36th or better to clinch the championship – a likely scenario considering his Texas past. In this season’s spring race, Edwards finished third and in this race last season, he finished seventh. In 2005, he finished fourth and third, respectively, in the two races. The one blemish on Edwards’ Texas record is a 43rd-place finish in the spring race last season. Overall at Texas, Edwards has a Driver Rating of 93.6, an Average Running Position of 14.7, 36 Fastest Laps Run and has spent 66.8% of his laps in the top 15. Reutimann needs another last-place finish from Edwards if he wants to prolong the inevitable.

Step Three: Deal with the competition. The competition will be fierce this weekend, as reigning series champion Kevin Harvick (No. 21 AutoZone Chevrolet) returns to the scene. Harvick has been solid at Texas, earning a Driver Rating of 117.7 and an Average Running Position of 5.9 (both are best of any driver competing Saturday).

Matt Kenseth, winner of this year’s Texas spring race, is also entered in Saturday’s field. He has a Texas Driver Rating of 108.1.

NBS, Etc.


Veteran” Advice: Bryan Clauson (No. 41 Memorex Dodge) turned 18 years old this past June. He started his fourth career NASCAR Busch Series race for the Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates team at Memphis last Saturday where he finished a season-best 18th in the event. His “experience” also put him in an interesting spot; to serve as a mentor to his new teammate – 34-year-old Dario Franchitti (No. 42 Target Dodge). The reigning Indianapolis 500 and IndyCar champion, Franchitti made his NASCAR Busch Series debut at Memphis where he started an impressive third and finished 32nd in the caution-filled event. Both will race together again at Texas.
Franchitti, Hornish Together Again: Dario Franchitti will be joined at Texas by his former IndyCar rival Sam Hornish Jr. (No. 12 Kodak Dodge), giving the O’Reilly Challenge a field consisting of the last two Indianpolis 500 champions. Hornish, though, has the leg up on Franchitti as far as his body of work at Texas. Both will be making their stock-car debuts at the track, but Hornish won the IndyCar event at the track last June; Franchitti finished fourth.

Labonte, Richardson Look To Home Track:
Bobby Labonte (No. 77 Dollar General Chevrolet), the 1991 NASCAR Busch Series champion and Corpus Christi, Texas native, returns to his home track seeking his first series win there. Labonte has 195 starts in his series career to go along with his championship. At the other end of the spectrum is rookie driver Robert Richardson (No. 28 U.S. Border Patrol Chevrolet), who is from McKinney, Texas. He hopes to make his track debut at TMS Saturday; he’ll have to qualify on time to do so. Richardson, 25, has started 14 races for Jay Robinson Racing and is one of eight drivers competing for Raybestos Rookie of the Year honors. His best career finish is 19th last April at Talladega Superspeedway. Richardson attempted to make the spring race at Texas driving for his family-owned team but did not qualify.

Painting The Town:
Shawn Parker, crew chief for the No. 37 Kickbutt Amped Energy Ballz Ford of Casey Atwood and Mark Rette, car chief for the No. 41 Dodge team, are making plans for a paintball competition between their two teams. Parker and Rette previously worked together in the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series garage and had talked about such a challenge. The event is scheduled for Thurs., Nov. 1 from 7-11:00 p.m. at the Gatsplat Indoor Paintball Field in Lewisville, Texas (www.gatsplat.com). Up to 15 Brewco members and 20-plus Ganassi members will participate. Drivers for each organization are also expected to attend to cheer on their crews.

Ambrose Seeks Consistency: With his first career series pole and his best finish to date (fourth) last week at Memphis, Marcos Ambrose (No. 59 Kingsford Ford) got a needed boost. The result was the Australian’s first top-five finish of the year and his first top-10 since placing seventh in Montreal. His only other oval top-10 finish was sixth at Dover International Speedway in June. The finish was also welcomed heading into another intermediate track where he’s struggled, especially recently. He posted DNFs at both Kansas Speedway and Lowe’s Motor Speedway and has an overall average finish of 26.8. He was 31st at Texas last spring.

Of Note – Texas: Jason Leffler (No. 38 Great Clips Toyota) won his first NASCAR Busch Series pole at Texas in 2000. … Two former winners are entered at Texas – Kevin Harvick (2001, ’05, ’06) and Matt Kenseth (2004, ’07). Kenseth owns the most top fives (five), top 10s (10) and most starts (12) in series competition at the track. … Harvick’s next win will be the 32nd of his series career and will vault him into second place on the all-time list. He’s currently tied with Jack Ingram with 31 victories. The two-time and reigning series champion averages a win every six starts – it has been seven starts since his last victory (Watkins Glen). He did not compete at Memphis.
 
The Director’s Take: Texas
“Texas Motor Speedway is the last of the 1.5-mile tri-ovals for the NASCAR Busch Series this season. The frontstretch is 920 feet longer than the backstretch and has a double dogleg configuration.

“Drivers will be looking to hit their marks entering the corners in order to get the car to ‘set’ and ‘rotate’ to get a good exit.

“Texas provides multiple grooves for passing. And this track is all about aero and having the car’s body at the right angle of attack with little drag for speed, yet enough downforce to turn.

“Drivers will give each other more room on the track, which should help reduce the number of cautions that we saw last week at Memphis.”

2007 NASCAR BUSCH SERIES
RAYBESTOS ROOKIE OF THE YEAR STANDINGS
Driver Points
1. David Ragan 232
2. Marcos Ambrose 201
3. Kyle Krisiloff 178
4. Brad Keselowski 170
5. Juan Pablo Montoya 165
6. Brad Coleman 163
7. Robert Richardson Jr. 107
8. Justin Diercks 51

2007 NASCAR Busch Series Champions Week
The 2007 NASCAR Busch Series Champion’s Week media activities with the series champion, top 10 drivers in the final standings and the Raybestos Rookie of the Year will be held Dec. 6-7 in Orlando, Fla.

The NASCAR Busch Series Awards Banquet will take place at the Portofino Bay Hotel on Friday, Dec. 7.

ESPN2
ESPN2 continues its season-long coverage of the NASCAR Busch Series with live racing from Texas Motor Speedway. The telecast of the 300-mile race begins at 3:00 p.m. ET with NASCAR Countdown.

The 1.5-mile track could be the scene of Carl Edwards’ clinching of the 2007 NASCAR Busch Series championship, even though two races remain in the 35-event season Saturday’s race.

Dr. Jerry Punch will anchor ESPN2’s coverage with analysis by 1989 NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series champion Rusty Wallace and two-time NASCAR champion crew chief Andy Petree. Dave Burns, Jamie Little, Mike Massaro and Shannon Spake will report from the pits.

Allen Bestwick will host NASCAR Countdown. Dale Jarrett, the 1999 NASCAR NEXTEL Cup champion and one of the founding drivers of the NASCAR Busch Series, will join Bestwick in the ESPN Pit Studio along with Brad Daugherty, a former winning team owner in the NASCAR Busch Series and NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series.

2007 At-A-Glance: NASCAR Busch Series Leaders After 32 Of 35 Races:

Season Traditional Statistics:
Driver points – Edwards (4,364)
Victories – Harvick (5)
Races led – Edwards (20)
Laps led – Ky. Busch (958)
Top-five finishes – Edwards (14)
Top-10 finishes – Edwards (19)
Owner points – Richard Childress Racing (No. 29) - (4,606)
Money Won – Edwards ($1,113,485)
Miles led – Ky. Busch (1,286.08)
Busch Poles – Hamlin (5)
Closest to 10th – M. Wallace 10th (3,083 pts); 11th – Kenseth, -102
Consecutive Weeks in Top 10 – Edwards, Harvick (32)

Season Loop Data Statistics:
Driver Rating – Edwards (106.0)
Average Running Position – Edwards (10.1)
Fastest Laps Run – Edwards (526 fastest laps)
Quality Passes – Edwards (952)
Laps In Top 15 – Edwards (4,822 of a possible 5,953)

Final Push: Can Toyota Rally For Third-Place Breakthrough?
Chevrolet, having already crowned the 2007 Bill France Performance Cup champion and Ford, this season’s probable runner-up, may be favorites in the final three races of the season as the leaders in manufacturer wins at Texas (Chevrolet – 6), Phoenix International Raceway (Ford – 6) and Homestead-Miami Speedway (Chevy – 6), respectively.

But Toyota’s second-half surge and its 10-point deficit to third-place Dodge gives the manufacturers’ race some late-season drama. This is the closest Toyota has been to Dodge since a 10-point advantage by Dodge following the race at California Speedway in early September.

Toyota won its second series race last Saturday at Memphis as David Reutimann registered his first career NASCAR Busch Series victory. Jason Leffler won Toyota’s inaugural series race in July at O’Reilly Raceway Park at Indianapolis.

Dodge has one win in that 11-race span – Kasey Kahne’s victory at Bristol last August.

Manufacturers' Championship 2007 Point Standings
Chevrolet 240
Ford 186
Dodge 144
Toyota 134

Up Next: Arizona.Travel 200 At Phoenix International Raceway
A final race out west for the NASCAR Busch Series in 2007 waits next week at Phoenix International Raceway. The Arizona.Travel 200 will be televised live on ESPN2 beginning at 4:00 p.m. ET.

Matt Kenseth won last year’s race from the Busch Pole; the second consecutive season a Roush Fenway Racing driver had done so. Carl Edwards won the 2005 fall event from the pole, the first driver in the first eight series races at the 1-mile track to accomplish the feat.

Greg Biffle, another Roush Fenway team member, is the only driver with multiple wins at Phoenix (2001, spring ’05). A driver now with Roush Fenway, Jamie McMurray, won in 2004.

Jason Leffler owns two poles at Phoenix (2000, spring ’06), the most of any driver.

Jeff Burton and Scott Wimmer, the Richard Childress Racing duo that has forged a stout lead in the owner points, have each won a race at Phoenix – Burton in 2000 and Wimmer in ’02.

FAST FACTS
The Race: O’Reilly Challenge
The Place: Texas Motor Speedway
The Date: Nov. 3, 2007
The Time: 3:30 p.m. (ET)
TV: ESPN2, 3 p.m. (ET)
Track Layout: 1.5-mile oval
Race Purse: $1,244,106
2006 Winner: Kevin Harvick
2006 Pole: Mark Martin

2007 Point Standings
Pos. Driver Points
1 Edwards 4,364
2 Reutimann 3,833
3 Leffler 3,606
4 Harvick 3,523
5 Ragan 3,464
6 Hamilton Jr. 3,313
7 Leicht 3,203
8 Ambrose 3,152
9 Biffle 3,136
10 Wallace 3,083

Pre-Race Schedule:
Friday–Practice, 9-10:00 a.m.; Rookie Practice, 10:10-10:40 a.m.; Final Practice, 10:55-11:55 a.m.; Qualifying, 5:35 p.m. (impound).

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« Reply #7 on: November 01, 2007, 09:02:22 am »

O'Reilly Challenge - Entry List

Car  Driver  Hometown Team  Owner  
0  Eric McClure  Chilhowie, VA  Hefty Chevrolet  Keith Duesenberg 
1  J.J. Yeley  Phoenix, AZ  Miccosukee Resort Chevrolet  James Finch 
01  Kertus Davis  Gaffney, SC  TBA Chevrolet  Johnny Davis 
2  Clint Bowyer  Emporia, KS  BB&T Chevrolet  Richard Childress 
5  Kyle Busch  Las Vegas, NV  Delphi Chevrolet  Rick Hendrick 
05  Brett Rowe  Barborsville, WV  31-W Insulation Chevrolet  Wayne Day 
David Ragan   Unadilla, GA  Discount Tire Ford  Jack Roush 
7  Mike Wallace  St. Louis, MO  GEICO Chevrolet  James Finch 
9  Elliott Sadler  Emporia, VA  Auto Value / Bumper to Bumper Dodge  Ray Evernham 
10  Brent Sherman  N. Barrington, IL  Fans1st.com Toyota  Greg Pollex 
11  Jason Keller  Greenville, SC  Sweet Baby Ray's Barbecue Sauce  Bryan Mullet 
14  Kyle Krisiloff  Carmel, IN  Lilly/Walgreens Ford  Greg Pollex 
16  Greg Biffle  Vancouver, WA  3M Ford  Jack Roush 
17  Matt Kenseth  Cambridge, WI  iLevel Ford  Jack Roush 
18  Tony Stewart  Columbus, IN  Goody's Chevrolet  Joe Gibbs 
20  Denny Hamlin  Chesterfield, VA  Rockwell Automation Chevrolet  Joe Gibbs 
21  Kevin Harvick  Bakersfield, CA  Auto Zone Chevrolet  Richard Childress 
22  Mike Bliss  Milwaukie, OR  Family Dollar Dodge  Armando Fitz 
24  Casey Mears  Bakersfield, CA  National Guard Chevrolet  Rick Hendrick 
25  Robert Richardson   McKinney, TX  FreeCreditReport.com Ford  Ed Rensi 
27  Brad Baker  Franklin, TN  Kleenex Ford  Tammy Brewer 
28  Blake Bjorklund  Isanti, MN  U.S. Border Patrol Chevrolet  Joe Custer 
29  Jeff Burton  South Boston, VA  Holiday Inn Chevrolet  Richard Childress 
30  Stanton Barrett  Bishop, CA  Smith & Wesson/SKI Motorsports Chevrolet  Stanton Barrett 
33  Tony Raines  LaPorte, IN  RoadLoans Chevrolet  Delana Harvick 
35  Bobby Hamilton Jr  Nashville, TN  McDonald's Ford  Gary Weisbaum 
36  Jeremy Clements  Spartanburg, SC  TBA Chevrolet  John McGill 
37  Casey Atwood   Antioch, TN  Kick Butt Amped Energy Ballz Ford  Clarence Brewer 
38  Jason Leffler  Long Beach, CA  Great Clips Toyota  Todd Braun 
41  Bryan Clauson  Noblesville, IN  Memorex Dodge  Chip Ganassi 
42  Dario Franchitti  Edinburg, UK  Target Dodge  Floyd Ganassi 
44  Mike Harmon  Birmingport, AL  Marty Lyons Fdtn/Spring Hill Suites Chevrolet  Donnie Richardson 
47  Kelly Bires  Mauston, WI  Clorox / American Red Cross Ford  Jodi Geschickter 
52  Donnie Neuenberger  Brandywine, MD  TBA Ford  Jimmy Means 
55  Robby Gordon  Cerritos, CA  Verizon Wireless Ford  Robby Gordon 
59  Marcos Ambrose  Launceston, AU  Kingsford Ford  Tad Geschickter 
60  Carl Edwards   Columbia, MO  Dish Network Ford  Jack Roush 
66  Steve Wallace  Charlotte, NC  Atreus Homes & Communities Dodge  Rusty Wallace 
70  Mark Green  Owensboro, KY  Foretravel Motorcoach Chevrolet  Mary Louise Miller 
72  D.J. Kennington  St. Thomas, CA  TBA Dodge  Pat MacDonald 
77  Bobby Labonte  Corpus Christi, TX  Dollar General Chevrolet  Delana Harvick 
88  Brad Keselowski  Rochester Hills, MI  U.S. Navy Chevrolet  Dale Earnhardt Jr. 
89  Morgan Shepherd  Conover, NC  Victory In Jesus Dodge  Cindy Shepherd 
90  Stephen Leicht  Asheville, NC  Citifinancial Ford  Robert Yates 
99  David Reutimann  Zephyrhills, FL  Aaron's Dream Machine Toyota  Michael Waltrip 
344  TBA   UPS Toyota  Michael Waltrip 


# - Rookie

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« Reply #8 on: November 01, 2007, 09:04:52 am »

10-30-2007

NASCAR NOTES: Silverado 350K at Texas Motor Speedway Preview
~TruckSeries.com Report 


Top 10 Far From Locked In - David Starr (No. 10 International MAXX-FORCE Diesel Ford) finished 15th at Atlanta to jump into the top 10 in the standings for the first time all season. Starr had slowly been climbing the leaderboard since a 20th-place finish in the season opener. Although Starr is currently ninth in the standings, his position is not safe by any means.

Starr leads 10th-place driver Jack Sprague (No. 60 Con-Way Freight Toyota) by eight points and 11th-place Erik Darnell (No. 99 Northern Tools + Equipment Ford) by only 10.

Overall, 134 points separate positions nine through 13.  Dennis Setzer (No. 18 Fastenal Dodge) is 12th, 83 points out of 10th and Brendan Gaughan is 13th, 126 behind Sprague.

The top 10 drivers will be honored at the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series awards banquet at The Seminole Hard Rock in Hollywood, Fla., on Nov. 19.

Skinner Out Front The Most - Mike Skinner led five laps at Atlanta Motor Speedway to extend his record of races led in a season to 21 out of a possible 22 races. The only race Skinner failed to lead a lap was at Bristol Motor Speedway. The previous record was 19 races shared by Greg Biffle in 1999 and Jack Sprague in 2001.

Skinner still has a ways to go, however, to catch the season records for miles and laps led. He currently has led 1,041 laps and 1,130.81 miles. He set the laps led in a season mark with 1,533 in 1996. Sprague has the most miles led with 1,443.02 in 2001.

Chaffin Streaks To A Halt - Chad Chaffin (No. 40 Key Motorsports Chevrolet) had his short-lived streak of consecutive top-10 finishes snapped at Atlanta. Chaffin had improved all four previous races he had started for Key Motorsports. After finishing 36th in his team debut at New Hampshire International Speedway, Chaffin finished 16th at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, eighth at Talladega Superspeedway and seventh at Martinsville Speedway.  The latter representing the top finishes for Key Motorsports in 45 series starts.

Chaffin has 29 top 10s in 99 career NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series starts, including wins at Dover and O’Reilly Raceway Park at Indianapolis in 2004. He is expected to make his 100th career start at Texas, making him the 25th driver in series history to hit the milestone.

Raybestos Rookie of the Year Standings: Clanton Continues Climb
 
Joey Clanton (No. 09 Zaxby’s Ford) finished sixth at Atlanta Motor Speedway – his hometown track – and picked up 16 points in the Raybestos Rookie of the Year standings to close the gap on leaders Willie Allen (No. 13 Pork/ThorSport Chevrolet) and Tim Sauter (No. 07 Lester Buildings Chevrolet).

The finish tied a career high for Clanton, who also finished sixth at the season opener in Daytona.

Allen currently leads second-place Sauter by seven points and Clanton by eight. Clanton should continue to gain ground as he racks up more starts.

The Raybestos Rookie of the Year Standings only count a driver’s top 14 starts of the season. Atlanta was Clanton’s 14th start, a mark that Allen and Sauter both hit two months ago. With three races remaining, Clanton has the opportunity to erase some of his poor finishes at the beginning of the season.

Raybestos Rookie of the Year Standings
    Driver               Points
 1. Willie Allen         152
 2. Tim Sauter           145
 3. Joey Clanton          144
 4. Jason White          120
 5. Blake Bjorklund      110

In The Loop: Bodine, Skinner and Hornaday Top Texas Loop Charts

It’s been all or nothing for Todd Bodine at Texas Motor Speedway.

Since the inception of Loop Data in 2005, Bodine has won three times in five races. But the other two trips resulted in finishes of 14th and 30th. If Bodine wins this weekend, he’ll become the first driver in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series to win five races at a given track. Clearly, the chances are good.

Bodine has some of the top stats at Texas. Overall since 2005, he has a Driver Rating of 101.1, an Average Running Position of 12.7, 74 Fastest Laps Run and has spent 69% of the total laps run in the top 15. In his three wins over that span, Bodine has Driver Rating of 116.7 and an Average Running Position of 7.1.

But all eyes will certainly be trained on the back-and-forth battle between Ron Hornaday Jr. and Mike Skinner. Hornaday, with a second-place finish at Atlanta, retook the series lead by four points. But from the looks of things, one of two scenarios will likely play out – the lead will be short lived or stay relatively the same.

Both Hornaday and Skinner excel at Texas, with Skinner owning a slight edge since 2005.

Of those who have competed in all five races since 2005, Skinner holds the top ranks in Driver Rating (135.2), Average Running Position (2.4), Fastest Laps Run (144) and Laps in the Top 15 (99.2% – all but six of the total laps run).

Hornaday has a Driver Rating of 112.9, an Average Running Position of 7.8, 57 Fastest Laps Run and has spent 87.6% of the total laps in the top 15.

Manufacturers’ Preview – Texas

The NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series is making its 20th trip to Texas Motor Speedway – the most of any track in series history. Chevrolet leads all manufacturers with seven wins, followed by five for Dodge, four for Toyota and three for Ford.

Manufacturers' Championship 2007 Point Standings
Toyota     157
Chevrolet 132
Ford        126
Dodge       69

This Week’s NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Leaders
(Through 22 races of the 25-race season)

Points leader – Ron Hornaday Jr. (3,547)
Driver Rating – Mike Skinner (117.4)
Winnings – Mike Skinner ($678,475)
Laps led – Mike Skinner (1,041)
Victories – Mike Skinner (5)
Bud Poles – Mike Skinner (9)
Top-five finishes – Mike Skinner (16)
Top-10 finishes – Ron Hornaday Jr. (10)
Raybestos Rookie Leader – Willie Allen (7 points over Tim Sauter)
Races led – Mike Skinner (21)
Weeks in Top 10 – Nine drivers tied with 21
On Deck: Phoenix International Raceway

The NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series will travel to Phoenix International Raceway next week, one of three tracks the series has raced at each of its 13 seasons.

Johnny Benson won last year’s Casino Arizona 150 after qualifying on the pole.

Current points leader Ron Hornaday Jr. has two wins at Phoenix, as does second-place Mike Skinner.

FAST FACTS

Next Race: Silverado 350K
The Place: Texas Motor Speedway
The Date: November 21
The Time: 9:00 p.m. (ET)
TV: SPEED 8:30 p.m. (ET)
Track Layout: 1.5-mile oval
Race Purse: $588,064
2006 Winner: Clint Bowyer
2006 Pole: Clint Bowyer

2007 Standings

No. Driver           Points
1    Hornaday Jr. 3,547
2    Skinner        3,543
3    Kvapil           3,227
4    Benson         3,139
5    Bodine          3,139
6    Crawford        3,076
7    Musgrave       2,754
8    Crafton           2,666
9    Starr              2,610
10   Sprague        2,602

Schedule:  Thursday: Practice 12:30–1:30 p.m., 2–2:30 p.m. (rookies) and 2:30–3:30 p.m., Qualifying 7 p.m.

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« Reply #9 on: November 01, 2007, 09:06:48 am »

REVISED ENTRY LIST: Silverado 350K at Texas

Race 23 - Texas Motor Speedway - November 2, 2007
 

  No. Driver Hometown Owner Sponsor Truck Crew Chief
1 00 Andy Lally Dacula, GA Darrell Waltrip Aaron's Lucky Dog Toyota Randy Goss
2 1 Jason Leffler Los Angeles CA Tom DeLoach RFMS-Red Horse Racing Toyota Jamie Jones
3 103 Justin Marks Rocklin CA Richard Germain Voodoo Ride/Germain Toyota Jason Overstreet
4 4 Mike Bliss Milwaukie OR Lois Vance Open Joist Dodge Marcus Richmond
5 5 Mike Skinner Susanville CA Bill Davis Toyota Tundra Toyota Jeff Hensley
6 6 Travis Kvapil Janesville WI Jack Roush K&N Engineering Ford Mike Beam
7 7 Jason White # Powhatan VA J.L. Pennington Hooters Energy Drink Dodge Steve Kuykendall
8 07 Tim Sauter # Nacedah WI Gene Christensen Lester Buildings/ASI Limited Chevrolet Doug Howe
9 8 Chad McCumbee Supply NC Dave Malcolmson thegpsstore.com/Garmin Chevrolet Steve Genenbacher
10 08 TBA   Bobby Dotter People Against Drugs Chevrolet Bobby Dotter
11 9 Ted Musgrave Franklin WI Robert Germain Team ASE Toyota Mike Hillman Sr.
12 09 Joey Clanton # Stockbridge GA Tad Geshickter Zaxby's Ford Gary Cogswell
13 10 David Starr Houston TX Greg Pollex International/MaxxForce Ford Dennis Connor
14 112 Wayne Edwards Shepherdsville, Kentucky Andy Belmont Racegear.com Chevrolet Andy Belmont
15 13 Willie Allen # Nashville TN Duke Thorson ThorSport Racing Chevrolet Lance Hooper
16 14 Rick Crawford Mobile AL Tom Mitchell Power Stroke Diesel by International Ford Kevin Starland
17 15 JR Norris Hueytown, AL Billy Ballew TBA Chevrolet Doug George
18 16 Brian Scott Boise ID Dave Fuge Strutmasters/TruckSeries.com  Ford Dave Fuge
19 18 Dennis Setzer Newton NC Lois Vance Fastenal Dodge Jeff White
20 21 Jon Wood Stuart VA Eddie Wood Bush's Baked Beans/Ravenswood Ford John Monsam
21 23 Johnny Benson Grand Rapids MI Gail Davis Toyota Certified Used Vehicles Toyota Trip Bruce
22 27 Jacques Villeneuve St. Jean-Sur-Richelieu, Quebec Bill Davis UNICEF Toyota Doug Wolcott
23 30 Todd Bodine Chemung NY Stephen Germain Lumber Liquidators Toyota Mike Hillman Jr.
24 33 Ron Hornaday Jr. Palmdale CA Delana Harvick Camping World Chevrolet Rick Ren
25 40 Chad Chaffin Smyrna TN Curtis Key Westerman Companies Chevrolet Gary Showalter
26 47 Regan Smith Cato NY David Dollar Ginn Resorts Chevrolet Eric Phillips
27 50 T.J. Bell Reno NV Jack Roush Heathcliff's Cat Litter Ford John Quinn
28 51 Kyle Busch Las Vegas NV Billy Ballew Flanders Beef Patties Chevrolet Richie Wauters
29 59 Terry Cook Sylvania OH James Harris Jr. Harris Trucking Toyota Danny Rollins
30 60 Jack Sprague Spring Lake MI Jeff Wyler Con-way Freight Toyota Rick Gay Jr.
31 63 Scott Lynch Burley ID Michael Mittler Cooper Bussmann Ford Mike Mittler
32 75 Clay Rogers Mooresville NC Wayne Spears Spears Manufacturing Co. Chevrolet Tom Ackerman
33 76 Chris Wimmer Wausau WI Jeff Milburn Automotive Fabrication Chevrolet Jeff Milburn
34 77 Brendan Gaughan Las Vegas NV Michael Gaughan South Point Hotel Chevrolet Bryan Berry
35 88 Matt Crafton Tulare CA Rhonda Thorson Menards Chevrolet Bud Haefele
36 99 Erik Darnell Beach Park IL Jack Roush Northern Tool + Equipment Ford Matt Puccia

# Raybestos Rookie Candidate
Updated 10/31/07 2:45PM ET

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« Reply #10 on: November 01, 2007, 09:08:41 am »

10-30-2007

ROOKIE NOTES: Silverado 350K at Texas Motor Speedway Preview
~TruckSeries.com Report 


Joey Clanton was the Raybestos® Rookie of the Race in the October 27 EasyCare Vehicle Service Contracts 200 at Atlanta (Ga.) Motor Speedway.  Clanton scored a sixth-place finish, his fifth top-10 in 14 starts this season.  He claimed top rookie honors for the fifth time in 2007.
 
- Willie Allen holds a seven-point advantage (152-145) over Tim Sauter in the Raybestos® Rookie standings entering the November 2 Silverado 350K at Texas Motor Speedway.  Clanton is third in the standings, eight points behind Allen.

- Allen is 15th in the Craftsman Truck Series championship standings, best of any Raybestos® Rookie.  He trails 14th-place Terry Cook by 138 points and is 66 ahead of 16th-place Sauter.

- Erik Darnell was the Raybestos® Rookie of the Race in the 2006 Silverado 350K at Texas, scoring a ninth-place finish.
 
- DID YOU KNOW?  Only once in eight fall races at Texas have TWO Raybestos® Rookies finished inside the top-10.  In 2006, Erik Darnell (ninth) and Marcos Ambrose (10th) accomplished the feat.
 
- DID YOU KNOW?  A Raybestos® Rookie has scored a top-10 finish in six of the eight fall races at Texas.
 
- DID YOU KNOW?  A Raybestos® Rookie has won two of the eight fall races at Texas: Travis Kvapil (2001) and Brendan Gaughan (2002).
 
- DID YOU KNOW?  The best qualifying effort by a Raybestos® Rookie in eight previous races at Texas is third by Ricky Hendrick (2001) and Carl Edwards (2003).
 
Top-five finishes by Raybestos® Rookies in the fall race at Texas:
2000: Kurt Busch, third
2001: Travis Kvapil, first
2002: Brendan Gaughan, first
2003: Carl Edwards, fourth

Top-10 finishes by Raybestos® Rookies in the fall race at Texas:
2000: Kurt Busch, third
2001: Travis Kvapil, first
2002: Brendan Gaughan, first
2003: Carl Edwards, fourth
2004: Todd Kluever, 10th
2006: Erik Darnell, ninth
2006: Marcos Ambrose, 10th   

Raybestos® Rookies to lead a lap in the fall race at Texas:
2000:      Kurt Busch (twice for 23 laps)
2001:      Travis Kvapil (twice for 12 laps)
2002:      Brendan Gaughan (twice for 18 laps)
2003:      Carl Edwards (twice for eight laps)

RAYBESTOS® ROOKIE HISTORY

The most Raybestos® Rookies to win a race in a single season is THREE in 1997: Kenny Irwin, Tony Raines, and Randy Tolsma.

The most poles by a Raybestos® Rookie is four (Greg Biffle in 1998 and Kurt Busch in 2000).

Busch holds the record for best championship finish (2nd), most wins (four), and most money won ($745,632).
 
The record for most top-fives by a Raybestos® Rookie is 13 (shared by Busch and Carl Edwards).

The record for most top-10 finishes by a Raybestos® Rookie is 19, by Ricky Hendrick in 2001.

FIVE drivers from Roush Racing have won Raybestos® Rookie of the Year while competing in the Craftsman Truck Series: Greg Biffle (1998), Kurt Busch (2000), Carl Edwards (2003), Todd Kluever (2005) and Erik Darnell (2006).  

Kenny Irwin was the first Raybestos® Rookie to win a race in the Craftsman Truck Series.  Irwin captured the Florida Dodge Dealers 400K at Homestead-Miami Speedway on March 16, 1997.  He took the checkered flag by .289 seconds over Mike Bliss.

Irwin also holds the record for quickest win by a Raybestos® Rookie in the Craftsman Truck Series, scoring his first career win at Homestead in just his third career start.   

RAYBESTOS® ROOKIE CONTENDER POINT STANDINGS

DRIVER          POINTS
Willie Allen 152
Tim Sauter      145
Joey Clanton     144
Jason White     120
Blake Bjorklund 110

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« Reply #11 on: November 03, 2007, 08:21:46 pm »

11-03-2007

FORD POST RACE NOTES: Silverado 350K at Texas
~TruckSeries.com Report 

RICK CRAWFORD – No. 14 Power Stroke Diesel by International Ford F-150 (finished 5th, qualified 7th)
AFTER THE RED FLAG, YOU WERE IN FIFTH, WHAT HAPPENED IN FRONT OF YOU? “I saw two trucks wrecking in front of me. I went as low as I could. I was trying to get fourth from Brendan and we had a truck that I told them on the radio that I need two trucks per lap. This Power Stroke Diesel by International Ford F-Series pick-up was going to win this thing for [team owner] Tom Mitchell. I hate to say it, but it looks like I’ve been racing a bunch of alligators because the right side of my truck is gone. But she’s built Ford tough and she spun around, made some bold moves tonight. We grabbed another gear and finished in the top five, so we’ll see how we end up.”

ERIK DARNELL – No. 99 Northern Tool + Equipment Ford F-150 (finished 14th, qualified 23rd)
ONCE THE RED FLAG WAS LIFTED, YOU WERE INSTRUCTED TO MOVE UP TO SIXTH PLACE BEHIND RICK CRAWFORD, THEN WHAT HAPPENED? “I’m not sure. We were in front of Skinner and behind Crawford on the last restart and got the green and trucks were wrecking everywhere. I don’t know what happened, but I guess the 60 [Jack Sprague] and the 8 [Chad McCumbee] got together and I had nowhere to go. It is pretty unfortunate, our Northern Tool + Equipment Ford F-150 was really good tonight. We got to lead some laps. Matt [Puccia, crew chief] made some really good calls on pit road as far as getting the adjustments we needed. I was pretty sure we were going to come out of here with a top-10 finish. We had fresh tires there at the end. I don’t think some of the guys in front of us did. We’re looking to make a charge to get up there. We had a shot at it and it unfortunately it didn’t work out that way.”

T.J. BELL – No. 50 Heathcliff’s Cat Litter Ford F-150 (finished 17th, qualified 29th)
“We are up as far as third there when we stayed up with the 5 [Mike Skinner] and the 9 [Ted Musgrave]. Then guys came out with new tires, so we knew that was going to happened. We had to make a green stop there and we made a little mistake. I can’t be happier with the boys that work on this back at the shop. I doubted myself and they were getting down. I want to end this year on a good note. I’m looking forward to going to Phoenix and Homestead for the Ford week and run better there.”

DAVID STARR – No. 10 International MAXX Force Diesel Ford F-150 (finished 19th, qualified 30th)
“Our International MAXX Force Diesel Ford F-150 was a monster tonight. It was hard to drive. We gave it all we got. We just couldn’t get it in the corners. We were very free on the entry and tried to fix it on the first pit stop and couldn’t fix it. Dennis Connor [crew chief] and all the guys, after going two laps down, we finally got it to where it was decent. The only thing good about tonight is that we finished the race. It was a disappointing night. Hopefully, we didn’t lose too much in the points. It was a frustrating night for the MAXX Force team. We’ll put this one behind us and go to Phoenix and have a good finish there. Then go to Homestead and get us a good finish there. I’m looking to try to stay in the top 10 in points and try to win a race one of these last two races. There’s always hope and I have hope that we can still pull off a top 10 in the points and try to win us a race. I’ve got hope and that’s all I can do. It wasn’t a good night and everyone is disappointed. It was what it was.”

TRAVIS KVAPIL – No. 6 K&N Filters Ford F-150 (finished 26th, qualified 6th)
DID YOU REALIZE THE TRUCK WAS ON FIRE? “I knew it was on fire on pit road and I was looking for somebody. It was a bad chain of events. We had an awesome K&N Ford and we definitely were contending for the win. The right front tire blew up and about five laps before that, I saw that my engine was going down and we lost a cylinder. We just kept riding it out and riding it out and we got to the point where we were only going to need fuel. So I said, ‘let’s just ride it out.’ I was on three-quarters throttle in the draft when I was back in the pack because we were down a cylinder. I was trying to save enough fuel to make it until the end. Then about two laps before I spun there, I told that that I had a vibration in the tire and it was going down. We were going to try and ride it out. It was unfortunate; we had a truck that was capable of winning the race. It was just a bad set of circumstances for us to end up like this.”

JOEY CLANTON – No. 09 Zaxby’s Ford F-150 (finished 32nd, qualified 21st)
“The 16 [Brian Scott] was trying to go harder than he could and he just turned it around in front of me. I couldn’t see where to go and the spotter said stop and lock it up. I hate it for Zaxby’s and Ford because we’re trying to win the Rookie of the Year title and we didn’t need back luck like this. We need to be out there getting a top-10; the truck was good enough. I was backpedaling off of him just to stay away from him and he was all over the track. He just got us. He got loose and lost it. He turned it sidewise coming off turn four and he blocked the whole race track up. I had nowhere to go. And we got caught-up in an unfortunate mess. We’re battling for the Rookie of the Year and it’s not the way we wanted to end the race tonight for Zaxby’s or Ford. We wanted to make sure we had a good run. The truck was awesome yesterday in practice. I hate it, we didn’t need this kind of finish. The crew is working on the truck. They’re going to get us out as soon as they can so we can make-up as many points as we can. The truck isn’t too bad, but it’s beat up pretty good.”

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« Reply #12 on: November 03, 2007, 08:28:45 pm »

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O'Reilly Challenge - Ford Post-Race Quotes

CARL EDWARDS CLINCHES FORD’S SECOND NASCAR BUSCH SERIES CHAMPIONSHIP

Carl Edwards is the second Ford driver to win the NASCAR Busch Series championship. Greg Biffle was the first driver to win the title when he achieved the feat in 2002. Ironically, both drivers were behind the wheel of the No. 60 Ford.

The championship was the 11th for Ford in NASCAR’s three top series combined. In addition to a pair of Busch Series championships, Ford has one Truck Series crown and eight Nextel Cup Series titles.

Today’s championship is the fifth overall NASCAR crown for owner Jack Roush.

FORD NASCAR BUSCH SERIES CHAMPIONS
2002 – Greg Biffle
2007 – Carl Edwards

FORD NASCAR CRAFTSMAN TRUCK SERIES CHAMPIONS
2000 – Greg Biffle

FORD NASCAR NEXTEL CUP SERIES CHAMPIONS
1965 – Ned Jarrett
1968 – David Pearson
1969 – David Pearson
1988 – Bill Elliott
1992 – Alan Kulwicki
1999 – Dale Jarrett
2003 – Matt Kenseth
2004 – Kurt Busch

 
 
 
CARL EDWARDS – No. 60 Dish Network Ford Fusion – “I’m proud of my guys. We had an unbelievable first half of the season. We had some many points. These guys have been working very hard. I’m so grateful to be driving this car. To win it here at Texas, this track has a lot of memories here for me. It’s just a really good feeling.” THIS IS YOUR FIRST CHAMPIONSHIP. THIS MUST BE IS PRETTY COOL. “Yeah, this is pretty cool. Hopefully, it’s one of many but we’re going to try and do it again next year and try to do even better. We’ve had a lot of really great fortune this season and we’ve had a lot of bad fortune this season. This took a little bit longer than we thought. I’m just very, very grateful for all the people who have given me opportunities and I’m so glad to be here.” SO YOU WANT TO TRY IT AGAIN. “Oh, yeah, for sure. I’ll be back next year.”

 
 
 
PIERRE KUETTEL – No. 60 Crew Chief – YOUR GOAL THIS YEAR WAS TO WIN THE CHAMPIONSHIP. “This race, we kind of hoped it would come out better than this. We were strong in the middle there. We tried to make adjustments like our teammate in the 16 [Greg Biffle] had because he was running really strong. The adjustments didn’t work for us. Unfortunately, we didn’t get a top-10 today, but the winning the championship is great.”

DOUG HERVEY, MANAGER NORTH AMERICAN RACING OPERATIONS, FORD RACING TECHNOLOGY – “This is obviously a great day for us. Carl had a great season in the Busch Series. We are very excited for Carl and Roush Fenway Racing. This is fantastic for us. I’m very proud of the team, Roush Fenway Racing and Dish Network and all the sponsors of Carl, Pierre Kuettel and the NASCAR Busch Series. We’re very pleased to be affiliated with such a true champion.” THIS ALSO MARKS THE FIRST CHAMPIONSHIP FOR THE FORD FUSION. “Yes, it is. I’m very pleased and proud to say that Ford is affiliated with Roush Fenway Racing. We look to continue the relationship and look to winning more championships.”

 
 
 
GREG BIFFLE – No. 16 3M Ford Fusion (finished 16th) – ON PITTING WITH 34 LAPS TO GO WHILE LEADING. “I don’t know what happened. Nobody feels worse than I do. We must’ve run over a tear-off or something. I came off of turn two just sailing along, in the groove, I mean I was even running low, and the thing just took off for the fence. And I lifted on the gas and stepped on the brake just a little bit, and I missed the fence by probably half an inch. We instantly knew that the right-front tire went flat, you know, or ran something over. So I came down pit road and they didn’t see anything wrong with it.”

BUT, UNDER THOSE CIRCUMSTANCES, YOU HAVE TO BE SAFE. “Yeah, if I had gone barreling off into turn three, that’s what we were just talking about, and just run right into the fence, it would ruin the car and all that, and that wouldn’t have been the smart thing to do, either. So, I guess I should’ve half-speeded it down there in three and four. We were already out of it at that point, so even if I would’ve run a slower lap, let’s say it was flat, and came back around, that probably should’ve been the thing to do, just to make sure.”

 
 
 
STEPHEN LEICHT – No. 90 CitiFinancial Ford Fusion (finished 10th) – YOU SCORED A TOP-10 AGAINST A STRONG FIELD. “I’m proud of the whole team. This CitiFinancial team did a great job. I can’t thank them enough. They didn’t really have to change much since we got here, and today it was all about track position and having that clean air up front. We were able to get up to about ninth or 10th, and if we could’ve ever gotten up inside that top-five and clean air, we might’ve been able to get up there and give them a guys a run for their money, but all in all it was a good day for us.”

AFTER A DAY LIKE THIS, YOU PROBABLY WOULD LIKE TO HAVE A FEW MORE RACES ADDED TO THE END OF THE SEASON. “You kind of wish there were more races because your team is getting better every week, and you start having better runs, starting runs, and when you pretty much have a Cup field in the Busch Series and finish 10th, that’s so much like finishing second or first. So, it’s a good run.”

DID YOU HAVE ANY CONCERNS ABOUT HAVING ENOUGH FUEL AT THE END? “No, we were good to go. We went back out with 70 to go, we went green for about 10 laps and then the caution came out, and once that caution came out were good to go to the end from there. We had no issues at all.”

ON GREG BIFFLE THINKING HE HAD A FLAT TIRE LATE IN THE RACE. “He thought he did? I thought I had a right-front go down. Every time the chatter would come to the right front.”

BIFFLE SAID HE MUST’VE RUN OVER OR TEAR-OFF OR SOMETHING. “Yes. Because my car was doing the same thing every run. But when we’d come in, they’d tell me the tires looked fine.”

DID THE CHATTER HAPPEN AT THE SAME TIME DURING THE RUN? “Yes, the same time every run, about 20, 30 laps in, it started doing that.”

 
 

MARCOS AMBROSE
– No. 59 Kingsford Charcoal Ford Fusion (finished 30th) - “The car felt really good right at the start but unfortunately that did not last long. The number 22 [Mike Bliss] lost it and had a wreck and I got on the brakes to avoid him and someone, I think the number 27 [Brad Baker] just didn’t see it in time and got me in the door. The damage really took away a lot of the sideforce of the car and from there it was a struggle. You spend all those hours developing the downforce and the body for that right-hand-side of the car, so to get damage like that changes the car dramatically. It was a trying experience and a tough day for us, because I was confident that we could run strong today. It’s just disappointing but this is a tough sport and you are always going to get some races that just don’t go your way. I’m proud of this team. We are always improving and climbing our way up there and today we were tested with all that went on. We made a lot of stops and had a lot of repairs to do over the race and the guys worked hard and kept us going around the best we could and we got to the finish with some points. There was some smoke in the cabin during the race and it took a bit out of me. I look like I’ve been working under the car, not driving it, because I’ve got black all over my face. I’ll rest up and be ready to chase a good result at Phoenix, because we had the pace but not the luck today, so let’s hope it goes our way next week.”
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« Reply #13 on: November 06, 2007, 04:02:57 pm »

~Race2Win

Dickies 500 - Ford Post-Race Quotes

 
 
 
BILL ELLIOTT – No. 21 Delimex Ford Fusion (finished 36th) – ARE YOU OKAY? WHAT HAPPENED? “I’m fine. The 40 car just had a flat left-rear and got down on the apron. It looked like he tried to correct, he was already on the flat, and then he over-corrected and came back up in front of Kyle [Petty]. I saw what was going to happen and I was going to try get on around Kyle, but I was done no matter what I did.” POINTS ARE SO VERY IMPORTANT FOR THIS TEAM RIGHT NOW? CAN YOU GET IT BACK OUT ON THE TRACK? “We’ll have to look at it and see. It’s hurt pretty bad.”

 
 
 
DAVID RAGAN – No. 6 AAA Insurance Ford Fusion (finished 37th) – “I don’t know. I just saw everyone checking up. My spotter even said, ‘Hey, the bottom lane is checking up.’ We were on the outside, and before I know it, I don’t know if I got drilled in the back or just checked up too quick and lost it. It’s just very unfortunate for the AAA team. Everyone worked really hard. I thought we had a pretty good car. I guess it just wasn’t meant to be.” WAS YOUR CAR GETTING BETTER? “The track was really slick at first and you just had to be easy with the throttle. You couldn’t overdrive it. Like I said, our car would drive pretty good on the bottom and it had good speed, and we were just kind of making our way up to the front slowly but surely. I felt like we had a top-10 or top-15 car when we wrecked. I really don’t know what happened. I just need to see a replay.” CAN YOU GET BACK IN THE RACE? “I’ll check. I don’t know. It wouldn’t turn over. I don’t know if something locked up, one of the pulleys or something in the motor. We’ve got a pretty good AAA pit crew. Tthey’ll fix it and get me back going as quick as they can.”

 
 
 
MATT KENSETH – No. 17 USG Ford Fusion (finished 2nd) – WHAT DID YOU SEE IN YOUR REARVIEW MIRROR? “I just saw him closing in on me. He was way faster than me. He had four and we had two. I think two is definitely the right call. I thought we got out there so far we were going to have a shot, but you can just never count them guys out. Jimmie’s just a great race-car driver and Chad does o a great job on the box, and they so have much confidence and they got four tires on it. I can’t believe more people didn’t get two. That would’ve helped us a little bit. But I saw him coming, did everything I could to hold him off. I was too loose anyway, and those two tires just couldn’t hang on to it.” AT THE END YOU ALMOST LOST IT A COUPLE OF TIMES. WAS THAT A CONCERN? “I was probably a little too far over my head. If I had to do it over again and I knew I was going to get beat, I probably wouldn’t have ran Jimmie quite as hard as I did, because I thought I lost my car once and probably would’ve taken him with me. But, Jimmie’s a great driver, I knew he was probably going to be pretty patient, racing for the championship, and we haven’t won in forever. So, we were racing hard, trying to keep the win and couldn’t do it.”

 
 
 
JAMIE McMURRAY – No. 26 Crown Royal Special Reserve Ford Fusion (finished 9th) – “It wasn’t a bad day. Our car just was so slow on new tires. We could make up for it on the other end, but just not enough speed at the beginning.”

 
 
 
GREG BIFFLE – No. 16 Jackson Hewitt Ford Fusion (finished 33rd) – “The guys left the lugnuts loose, and got us a couple of laps down. It’s just frustrating – very, very frustrating. We just couldn’t get the handle right. It was just too loose, too tight a little bit sometimes. But, just couldn’t get it fixed. We got pretty close at Kansas, but we’re still just a little too far off. We just should be better than we are at places like this. Charlotte we were bad, terrible, and here we were terrible. I don’t know why. We’ll see. We’ll keep working on it.”



MATT KENSETH press conference
 
 
 
MATT KENSETH – No. 17 USG Ford Fusion (finished 2nd) – “I’m happy and I’m disappointed. Whenever you’re leading with three to go, you’re always disappointed when you don’t win. That’s been a couple of races here in a row that’s happened to us, got passed on the last lap. So, I was disappointed in that, but overall, if I look back at the day, it was a great day for us. I don’t think we necessarily had a second-place car most of the day. It was good Friday when we unloaded, and tonight when it got dark it was pretty good again. But during the day we weren’t really any good at all. So that was probably a little bit of an advantage at the end. We probably had top-three or -four car, and took two tires at the end and this week they got four and beat us with it, last week they got two and beat us with it. So, it’s hard to figure out, but they made the right call and had the best car at the end and got through there.”

WHAT EFFECT DOES THE TRACK SURFACE AGING HAVE ON THE RACING, AND HOW YOU AND THE 48 COULD RACE SIDE BY SIDE DESPITE THE 48 HAVING FOUR NEW TIRES AND YOU HAVING TWO NEW TIRES? AND WHY DID THE TWO-TIRE STOP LAST SO LONG? “Two reasons it lasted that long. The first reason is I got a huge head start. The second reason was he was being pretty careful. Those are probably the two reasons. As the tracks age, it’s definitely gotten wider. It used to be a really bad one-groove, hard to pass – you’re running so fast here and with the flat transitions in and out of the corner, you just get real aero-tight behind people. So, as a track ages, and they done a great job smoothing out some of the bumps, and making that a little bit better. The outside groove has been able to come in and you’ve been able to run side by side. With these cars I had to run the top, I was loose anyway, and if Jimmie got outside of me I was going to be looser, so I just tried to stay close to him and upset his aerodynamics as much as I could to try to hold him off. That’s really the only reason I held him off as long as I did. If I probably gave him some breathing room, he probably would’ve gone right by. I just stayed in there as long as I could.”

THERE’S A LOT OF TALK ABOUT POINTS RACING. THAT WASN’T THE CASE TODAY.
“Not to be smart, but that’s what we do every week. The thing with me and Denny probably shouldn’t have happened, and if it was – the 48 and me probably wouldn’t have raced that hard with 80 to go you’re going to that race hard for the lead when there’s 20 to go because you’ve got to do everything you can do to hold them off, and to try and get that win when it’s in front of you. It’s every week. It doesn’t matter really where you are in the points. I think the only that would change is if he was at Homestead and had a 50-point lead, or something like that, I’m sure he would’ve backed out of it and pulled back behind me. But we’ve raced together for a long time and I think he was probably pretty confident that I wasn’t going to wreck him, and we raced each other really hard. I didn’t give him much extra room at all. I thought of the points thing, I thought maybe he would back out of there, that one time he back out with five to go or something like that, but he was just a lot faster.”

DO YOU THINK ABOUT THE POINTS?
“It did enter my mind, but it entered it kind of backwards. I wasn’t like, ‘Man, that’s the points leader, I’m going to give him a bunch of room and whatever.’ I’m like, ‘Man, I’m going to race the heck out of him and crowd him and hope he backs back out of there and thinks better of it and says, man, is he aggressive going for that win, I better back out of there so I don’t get myself in a bad spot.’ So, yeah, I thought about it there, actually kind of in a way to tale advantage of him, I guess, or of the situation. But he had a lot faster car, and like I said, we’ve raced each other a lot. He knew I wasn’t going to give him a lot of extra room with five to go, but he knew I wasn’t going to wreck him, either. So,I think we raced as hard as we could race for that position. It wasn’t that different in the spring. It was only how many races in. Me and Jeff Burton, and Jeff and I are great friends and we raced as hard as we could race for 10 or 15 laps and he finally passed me on the last lap, too. We couldn’t have raced any harder for the lead with out wrecking.”

CAN YOU TALK ABOUT THE SAME THING HAPPENING TO YOU IN BOTH RACES AT THIS TRACK THIS YEAR? “There’s a couple of things. It is disappointing. When you’re leading with two or three to go and you get passed, it is disappointing. We’ve had three top-fives in a row now, and I’m happy about that. We seem to be getting back to where I want again, and I’m also firm believer that if you get get yourself in position to win enough, you’re going to win races. It’s easy to say after you’ve just lost one, but you hate losing any of them, but there’s also times I think you go through that, you get yourself in position to win and maybe the other guy has a little trouble or whatever happens and hopefully you’ll win a couple that maybe you shouldn’t have, and it all kind of balances out.”

DID YOU HAVE ANY MECHANICAL PROBLEMS OVER THE LAST THREE LAPS? “He ran me down from a long ways back, I don’t know how much faster he was, but I was steadily losing grip which is normally – I drove it real hard on to the track to get as big of a lead as I could, and I was a little too loose putting two tires on and kept losing more and more grip as I was running, and on four tires he just had more grip.”

AT THE END, WHEN YOU WERE GETTING SIDEWAYS, HOW HARD WAS IT TO HOLD ON TO THE CAR? “I felt like I was sideways the whole time, so I can’t really remember the one time. The one that sticks out is when Jimmie and I were side by side in off of four, and I just about spun out – and that would’ve been bad because I was looking at his right-rear quarter panel and it probably would’ve been really bad for him and really bad for me. So I was glad that I was able to gather that up and keep rolling. We were just loose and on two tires and just driving over my head to try to get up there as far as I could.”

JIMMIE KNOWS YOU’LL RACE HIM CLEANLY. ANOTHER DRIVER MIGHT NOT RACE HIM CLEANLY. DOES THAT GIVE HIM A BIT OF AN ADVANTAGE WHEN HE RACES YOU? “I don’t know. I think you try to race people the same all the time. And he was a lot faster and I don’t think anybody could’ve made it any harder on him. To tell you the truth, I didn’t give him a lot of extra room. I wasn’t going to run into him or do anything crazy, but I certainly didn’t give him a lot of room. We were battling it out for the lead. But, yeah, a couple of battles for them, and come to think about it, I guess he won them all, so he probably was feeling pretty good about it as fast as he reeled us in.”

IS THAT THE CURSE OF BEING A NICE GUY? “What are you going to do different? Wreck? Nobody wants to wreck. There’s really not a lot I could do different.”

WAS THERE MUCH DISCUSSION BETWEEN YOU AND CREW CHIEF ROBBIE REISER REGARDING TWO OR FOUR TIRES ON THAT LAST STOP? “Not really. I guess this is how dumb I am from the seat – last week when we got four I thought for sure we should’ve gotten two because there was only three or four left, and this week I was like, ‘Man, if we’re going to pit, just put two tires on it or stay on the track – one or the other.’ Four never even crossed my mind. I just didn’t think that many people would do it with 30 to go, but obviously I was way wrong. There was only three of us that tried it, and that was kind of the kiss of death for us. I think if there would’ve been five of us that tried it and it went green to the end like that, it would’ve took Jimmie long enough to navigate by them extra two or three cars and we probably would’ve gotten a big enough lead and it probably would’ve worked out. He was just too close to the front, and he was quite a bit faster on four. We couldn’t really run that much faster on four from some reason. So, no, I never really even thought of four that last stop.”

YOU MENTIONED THAT YOU AND JIMMIE HAVE RACED AT THE END FOR WINS BEFORE, AND HE’S WON. CAN YOU QUANTIFY WHY? OR EXPLAIN WHETHER THERE’S ANYTHING YOU SEE THERE THAT’S A TREND? “Since that group got together, in my opinion, from watching outside and from racing, that is the strongest team, driver, crew chief, group, everything-all-together unit, that is the strongest unit in the garage area. And in my opinion it’s been that way for four years. He’s only won one championship and he’s on his way to a second in those four years, but they’ve been the team pretty much every week – I can’t think of a track that I go to, that you don’t think of the 48 being up there challenging for a win or making strategy calls or pushing the rules to the limit or whatever it may be. I think he’s won at every kind of track, except for maybe road course. They’re unbelievable. I think they’re the best, on top of their game right now.”

IS THIS JOHNSON’S CHAMPIONSHIP TO WIN? “Anything can happen with the point structure with the way it is now, even though how far he’s ahead, but just on performance, and Jeff has had an awesome year, an awesome consistent year, and if would’ve been a normal-before-the-chase-type thing, obviously, that would be the championship team. But, just off pure performance, the 48, in my opinion, more times than not, has everybody covered, including the 24. But Jeff has been there several times and he’s real smart and smooth and one little slip-up from the 48, and he’ll be right there. Jeff doesn’t make any mistakes.”

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