NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Notes and Quotes June 9 - 16, 1997
10 June 1997
NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series
Notes & Quotes
Week of June 9, 1997
RED-HOT CINTAS ROOKIE KENNY IRWIN WINS HISTORIC
PRONTO AUTO PARTS 400 AT TEXAS MOTOR SPEEDWAY
DAYTONA BEACH, FL -
Kenny Irwin is the real deal.
The first Cintas Rookie-of-the-Year candidate to win a NASCAR Craftsman Truck
Series event, at Homestead, FL, Irwin added a second superspeedway triumph to
his glowing resume, winning the June 6 Pronto Auto Parts 400 at the Texas
Motor Speedway in Fort Worth.
Irwin, driving the Raybestos Ford jointly owned by Ohio auto dealer Jim
Herrick and retired NBA Cleveland Cavaliers all-star Brad Daugherty, closed
out the 1997 season's first five, of 10, superspeedway visits with the best
record on tracks of a mile or greater in length. His $58,950 payoff was the
second largest in series history, as the 27-year-old Indianapolis competitor
averaged a NCTS record 131.823 mph for the 250.5-mile distance.
Here's Irwin's 1997 superspeedway log:
Five starts, two wins, three top-five and four top-10 finishes. Engine
trouble at Phoenix contributed to a 17th-place finish, Irwin's worst of the
season, and only big-track placing off the lead lap. The 1996 U.S. Auto Club
national midget champion leads Cintas Rookie-of-the-Year standings by a
formidable 131 to 98 margin over Rick Crawford, whose Circle Bar Motel RV
Ford finished third in Fort Worth, behind Irwin and another Cintas freshman,
Boris Said in the Federated Auto Parts Ford. Irwin also jumped to third in
NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series standings, just 55 markers behind Rich Bickle
and Jack Sprague, both of whom suffered mechanical trouble in Texas.
"Honestly, until tonight, I didn't even think anything about points. I was
more concerned with Cintas rookie points than championship points,"
acknowledged Irwin. "The (championship) question has to be asked since we
have won two races. Our team is solid and has a lot of potential for more
wins."
Irwin battled fellow USAC champion Mike Bliss for the victory, as he did
March 16 in Florida, taking the lead for good on the 113th of 167 laps when
Bliss's Team ASE Ford cut a tire exiting turn 4 of the 1.5-mile track. Bliss,
who established an alltime speed record for the series in winning the Busch
Pole at 175.667 mph, finished fifth. Although winless in 1997, the Milwaukie,
Ore. veteran logged his third superspeedway top-five finish of the season.
Notes and Quotes from Deep in the Heart of Texas
- With the 1997 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series season one-third complete, the
championship pot has begun to boil in earnest. Point leader Bickle, whose
Sears DieHard Chevrolet suffered a broken shock and body damage, finished
21st. His second finish of 20th or worse in a week, coupled with Sprague's
31st-place listings, put a crowd back into the point chase. The difference
between Bickle's 1,343 points and the 1,126 scored to date by defending NCTS
champion Ron Hornaday is just 217.
- Sprague's Quaker State Chevrolet suffered engine failure on lap 78, after
moving from 33rd to third position. The DNF ended a 52-race streak of
finishing perfection. Sprague hadn't failed to lead a series superspeedway
race since July 1, 1995 at The Milwaukee Mile, a string of 12 events. He'd
also finished on the lead lap in all 14 big track races previously run.
- Ford's one through five sweep at Fort Worth was the first in the series
for the manufacturer. Chevrolet has accomplished the feat twice, in
back-to-back weeks in 1995 at Indianapolis and Flemington, N.J.
- Said, an internationally accomplished road racer, continues to improve in
NASCAR. After struggling early in the year, he's bagged three consecutive
lead-lap efforts, finishing 12th, fourth and second. The 34-year-old
Carlsbad, Calif. driver stands 15th in overall standings, up from 24th as
recently as May 10. "Yeah, if he's a rookie, I'm a double rookie," Said
laughed, commenting on Irwin's freshman status. "He's been racing ovals all
his life, tracks like Winchester (Ind.), which looks like the hardest track
in the world to me. Going from road racing to oval racing is a big
transition...you know, it is like going from golf to tennis. It's like
starting over."
- Crawford, whose best previous series finish was the previous week's sixth
at Loudon, N.H., also has begun turning heads. Sixth, in laps completed, the
Mobile, Ala. driver moves to 11th in series point standings -- just 11 out
of the top-10.
- The top-three Cintas rookie finish is a record. Previous best? Depends on
your point of view: one-nine (Tony Raines-Tony Roper) at Odessa, Mo. or
four-five-six (Said, Irwin, Crawford) at Loudon. Randy Tolsma's series best
effort, eighth in the IWX-Freight Chevrolet, made it an unprecedented four
Cintas candidates in the top-10.
- Bittersweet night for Hornaday, whose NAPA Brakes Chevrolet suffered
engine failure on lap 109 after moving from 12th to third. The 27th place
finish dropped Hornaday and Teresa Earnhardt's team out of the top-10. The
$10,450 won, however, makes the Palmdale, Calif. competitor the series
alltime money winner at $1,051,221. He passed 1995 champion Mike Skinner,
who'd led with $1,045,802.
- The 33-truck field average for the Pronto Auto Parts 400 field was 171.209
mph, enabling the Texas Motor Speedway to succeed the Las Vegas Motor
Speedway as the series' fastest venue.
- Here's what several drivers said about the TMS event: "Texas proved we
didn't have any problems and we do belong on these (high-speed) tracks,"
commented Bliss. Added Jimmy Hensley, "The trucks put on a heck of a show
here. The truck series stood tall tonight and I'm proud to be associated with
them. The series got an A-plus."
- Former Honda factory motocrosser and Mickey Thompson Super 1,600 class
champion Tommy Croft is the latest addition to the NASCAR Craftsman Truck
Series' diverse mix of competitors. Croft, driving a Chevrolet owned by the
Charlotte, N.C. tandem of Mike Farris and Kevin Olson, finished a solid 14th
in the Pronto Auto Parts 400. Sports Car Club of America TransAm veteran Ron
Fellows also made his NCTS debut at Fort Worth, finishing 25th in Billy Hess'
AER Manufacturing Chevrolet.
- Stat of the Week: Irwin's winning margin was 0.288-second, marking the
seventh time in 1997 that the runnerup has trailed by 0.675-second or less.
That's the seventh-closest margin in series history. It ranks third-closest
on superspeedways, behind Homestead, 0.022 (1996) and Phoenix, 0.09 (1995).
For those of you who are counting there have been 37 margins of victory of
one second or less in the 53 NCTS races run.
By NASCAR Public Relations