NASCAR GDS: Ricky Bryant and B/G Motorsports Face a Busy Schedule
4 March 1999
Having enjoyed some post Daytona downtime Ricky Bryant, and his Washington Apple / Toyota Express Lube race team are prepared for some very busy months ahead.Bryant stated, "You spend so much time getting ready for Daytona, and trying to achieve some big results it is important to re-focus on the remainder of the still as yet very young 1999 season. Daytona is such a special place for our team to compete that you have to guard against any let down. All of the remaining 17 races this season award the same number of championship points as Daytona. And that is our goal: to win the 99 Dash Series championship for our sponsors and our team!"
After 18 hour days, 7 days a week from early January prepping for Daytona, Ricky and the team were able to get re-acquainted with family and enjoy some well deserved rest.,
Ricky says, "We are all very anxious to get going again. We have our new sponsors Washington Apples, Toyota Express Lube and Exxon Super-Flo that we need to do appearances for and represent well. We are also building our first Toyota to begin testing in a few weeks. Race #2 at Hickory is right around the corner ( April 24th), and right after that we test at Charlotte on April 26th. Ricky pronounced the entire team as energized and rarin to go!
First up for Bryant is a trip to New England this weekend to appear for 3 days at Racearama. Racearama is the largest race show in New England / Mid - Atlantic region. It will be held at the Big E in West Springfield, Massachusetts on March 5th, 6th, and 7th. The race show, now in its 17th year, annually draws over 50,000 race fans through its doors.. Bryant will be appearing for the benefit of the Make-A-wish Foundation.
This is the fourth straight year Ricky has appeared at the show to help raise funds and awareness for the Make-A-Wish foundation. In addition to Ricky meeting his fans, the Washington Apple / Toyota Express Lube car that raced at Daytona will be on display for fans to see. In addition B/G Motorsports will be welcoming on board the A&P Super Foodmart chain by doing some marketing for them as well. While at the show Bryant has a serious challenge to consider.
Annually Racearama holds a number of activities for the fans and race teams to become involved in a hands on way. Bryants personal challenge will come in the form of the "Pit Crew Contest."
Ricky tells us, "we have some big shoes to fill this year showing the fans how not to make the fastest pit stop. The first year we changed the tires on the wrong side and last year, well, lets not discuss that. It was ugly."
Bryant and his totally-volunteer pit crew have not, as you would say, had the best of luck in the first 2 years they competed!
After Bryant returns from New England both he and the crew will work at the same time on finishing up preparation of the short track car for Hickory and the teams first Toyota Celica. We hope to begin a test program with NASCAR and the folks from Toyota Racing Development as soon as possible. The first Toyota motor should be in the shop as soon as Ricky returns to North Carolina.
We just took the short track car to be painted and have a couple more weeks to prepare that car for the April 24th race. The new Toyota will need a bit more work. The race team has waited anxiously to begin this testing program for almost a year now. Bryant and the team hope all goes well so they can return the Toyota name to NASCAR competition with a flourish as soon as the car is up to speed. Ricky feels this will be his most challenging year yet for himself and the team. Winning the championship for our new sponsors is certainly a n exciting challenge, but doing it with a brand new brand name and racecar moves the bar a little bit higher if Bryant hopes to achieve the teams goals in 1999. Ricky feels he and his team are equal to the challenge.
Finally to cap off a busy March & April, Bryant and the team will attend the NASCAR testing date at Charlotte on Monday, April 26th in preparation for the Dash race on May 26th at Lowes Motor Speedway in Charlotte.