NASCAR NCTS (DOVER) - PRE-RACE NOTES
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Showalter Marks 300th Consecutive Race At Dover
Daytona Beach, Fla. (May 29, 2007) – Chris Showalter didn’t plan to make a career in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series when he went to the inaugural event in February 1995 as a 21-year-old general mechanic for Butch Miller and Liberty Racing.
Two hundred ninety eight races later Showalter is still here – and the only competitor to have been in the garage at every event.
"I figured in five years I’d be in the NEXTEL Cup Series," said Showalter, a native of Ohio and currently truck chief for the Morgan-Dollar Motorsports’ No. 47 Ginn Resorts Chevrolet and driver Kraig Kinser. "But I found out I love it here. People treat you good and I’ve had a lot of fun."
Showalter has worked for five different teams during the series’ 12-plus seasons.
There have been many highs – and of course, some lows – along the way but the defining moment came in 2003 as crew chief for champion Travis Kvapil and IWX Motorsports.
”We went the whole season and completed all but one lap," said Kvapil, now 34. ”We went the whole season and completed all but one lap," said Kvapil, now 34. "It was a testament to the strength of the team and special to me because I taught my team to field great race trucks."
Setzer, Spears Motorsports Return To Victory Lane In Ohio
It required more than seven hours from start to finish but when the checkered flag finally waved over Saturday’s Ohio 250, Dennis Setzer and Spears Motorsports returned to Victory Lane.
Setzer’s 17th series victory, at Mansfield Motorsports Park, snapped a personal winless streak of 41 races and ended a two-plus year, 57-race drought for Wayne and Connie Spears – the only remaining team that competed in the series’ inaugural race in 1995.
Setzer now has won in nine different seasons matching Jack Sprague’s (No. 60 Con-way Freight Toyota) series record.
The victory was the first for crew chief Tom Ackerman, who joined the Spears operation five races ago at Atlanta Motor Speedway.
The pair won the 125-mile race without a pit stop – a first since live sevice began in mid-1998.
Inclement weather contributed to a series record 103 laps of caution and produced the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series’ longest day: More than seven hours from green flag to the drop of the checkered.
NCTS Notebook: First, 100th and 200th Race Winners Compete In AAA Insurance 200
The NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series becomes 300 races old this Friday with the running of the AAA Insurance 200 at Dover International Speedway.
The track also hosted the series’ 250th race in 2005 won by Kyle Busch (No. 51 Billy Ballew Motorsport Chevrolet), who’ll attempt to become Dover’s first repeat winner.
Each winner of a NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series “milestone” race is slated to participate in the eighth race of the 2007 schedule.
Mike Skinner (No. 5 Toyota Tundra Toyota) won the 1995 inaugural event at Phoenix International Raceway and is the current championship leader. Ron Hornaday Jr. (No. 33 Camping World Chevrolet) picked up a cool 100 grand for his 100th race victory in 1999 at Evergreen (Wash.) Speedway. And Ted Musgrave (No. 9 Team/ASE Germain Toyota) captured race No. 200 at Memphis Motorsports Park in 2003.
Skinner and Hornaday made their reputations in the series; Musgrave won the 2005 championship after a lengthy and successful NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series career.
Like most in the inaugural field, Skinner – who debuted in a Richard Childress Racing-owned Chevrolet – wasn’t sure what to expect and what winning might mean.
When the checkered flag fell any doubts he might have had about racing trucks vanished.
“It was a fact of who I beat to the wire in the race,” said Skinner, whose victory margin over Terry Labonte was .09 second. “Back in those days, Terry owned the place.
“It definitely turned my career around.”
Hornaday, a two-time champion, nearly didn’t get to the 100th race. He and his wife, Lindy, took a short-cut that left their motorhome snowed in on a Cascade Mountains road.
“A fan drove 65 miles back to town and got us some chains,” he said.
His first thought about Craftsman posting the huge bonus for eligible entrants?
“Were they actually going to pay $100,000?” he recalls, then agreed to share it with his Dale Earnhardt Inc. crew if they won.
Musgrave’s 200th victory put series pioneer and owner Jimmy Smith – appropriately – in the record book.
“That’s what we’re all here to do; to put your name in the history books,” said Musgrave. “It was great for Jimmy, especially since it gave him something he could always brag on.”
This Week’s NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Leaders (Through 7 races of the 25-race season)
* Points leader – Mike Skinner (1,217) * Driver Rating – Mike Skinner (125.7) * Winnings – Mike Skinner ($258,925) * Laps led – Mike Skinner (497) * Victories – Mike Skinner (3) * Budweiser Poles – Mike Skinner (5) * Top-five finishes – Mike Skinner (6) * Top-10 finishes – Mike Skinner (7) * Raybestos Rookie Leader – Aaron Fike (24 over Willie Allen) * Races led – Mike Skinner (7) * Weeks in Top 10 – 9 drivers tied with 7
Raybestos Rookie of the Year Standings
Driver Points 1. Aaron Fike 78 2. Willie Allen 54 3. Tim Sauter 53 4. Tyler Walker 51 5. Joey Clanton 50 6. Blake Bjorklund 48 7. Kelly Bires 44 8. Jason White 19 9. Kevin Hamlin 18 10. Casey Kingsland 5 11. Brian Sockwell 1
In The Loop
Call it vengeance night for the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series drivers.
NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series regulars have placed 1-2 in the last two Craftsman Truck races at Dover International Speedway. The safe bet says the truck drivers want their swagger back.
Last year, Mark Martin (No. 21 Bush Beans Ford) led the most laps and captured the checkered. Carl Edwards finished second, and Kyle Busch led 85 laps – one lap less than Martin.
In 2005, Busch won at Dover, with Tony Stewart – who made one of his six career Craftsman Truck starts that race – finishing second.
This Friday, both Martin and Busch will again run the Craftsman Trucks.
Martin impressed last year at Dover, earning a Driver Rating of 143.0, an Average Running Position of 3.165, 40 Fastest Laps Run and 15 Quality Passes.
Over the last two years, Busch has accumulated similarly robust numbers. In his two Dover races, Busch has an Average Running Position of 4.380, a Driver Rating of 126.0 and the fastest Green Flag Speed.
Can any of the Craftsman Truck regulars reclaim the glory? Ron Hornaday Jr. looks to be the most likely candidate. Hornaday has a Driver Rating of 121.7 at Dover, an Average Running Position of 5.185 and 56 Fastest Laps Run, which is more than any other driver at Dover over the last two years.
What They’re Saying About The ‘Monster Mile’
* “Any fan would have a ball watching the race from the base of the track in the infield at Dover. Watching the vehicles drive off into the corner there is breathtaking. That’s the way it is from the driver’s seat, too.” – Terry Cook, No. 59 Harris Trucking Toyota. * “Qualifying is very important at Dover. You get an extra set of tires at Dover, so there will be three pit stops. You need a good pit stall at Dover, so you have to qualify well to be able to pick a good spot on pit road. It’s a very difficult pit road.” – Mike Hillman Jr., crew chief for the No. 30 Lumber Liquidators Toyota of Todd Bodine.
Manufacturers’ Standings
Chevrolet scored its second consecutive victory at Mansfield Motorsports Park and broke its deadlock with Ford in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Manufacturers’ Championship.
Perhaps more significant, Ken Schrader (No. 18 Fastenal Dodge) gave DaimlerChrysler its first top-five finish and was joined in the top 10 by Bobby Hamilton Racing teammate Kevin Hamlin (No. 4 Open Joist Dodge).
Schrader said this year’s struggle is all about numbers. “You can’t go to war with two trucks,” said the veteran driver.
The speedway in pre-race ceremonies honored the late Hamilton, whose 10th and final victory came at Mansfield in 2005.
NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Manufacturers' Championship
Toyota 54 Chevrolet 42 Ford 36 Dodge 22
Seminole Hard Rock Hosts ’07 Champion’s Fete
From 2001 through 2004, the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series held its annual awards banquet concurrent with the close of the NASCAR national touring season at Homestead-Miami Speedway.
After two years of hosting the event in Orlando during the month of December, the South Florida tradition will be renewed later this year. The site of the Monday, Nov. 19 event will be the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel in Hollywood, Fla. The property is located just north of Miami.
FAST FACTS
The Race: AAA Insurance 200 The Place: Dover International Speedway The Date: June 1, 2007 The Time: 4:45 p.m. (ET) TV: SPEED, 8 p.m. (ET) Track Layout: 1-mile concrete oval Race Purse: $667,461 2006 Winner: Mark Martin 2006 Pole:David Reutimann
Pos. Driver Points 1 Skinner 1,217 2 Hornaday 1,096 3 Bodine 1,037 4 Musgrave 1,024 5 Crawford 1,015 6 Sprague 965 7 Kvapil 928 8 Crafton 892 9 Benson 890 10 Fike 856
Schedule: Thursday–Practice 2:30-3:30 p.m.; 3:45- 4:15 p.m. (rookies) and 4:30- 5:30 p.m. Friday–Qualifying, 10:30 a.m.