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NASCAR Trucks: Joe Ruttman, Dana Racing go to New Hampshire with heads held high

5 July 2000

Posted By Terry Callahan
Motorsports Editor, The Auto Channel

New day: Joe Ruttman and the Dana Racing team enter this week's race with their heads high after a great run last week, despite the fact that an engine failure forced them to finish 24th in the event.

"We went to Milwaukee trying to win the race," said Ruttman. "We did everything we could to do just that. We qualified and raced up front all day and would have had a great shot at the victory, if the engine had stayed together.

Ruttman went on to say, "But that is all in the past. I always race the race this week and not worried about what I did last week. Every one of these races is different and if you're not focusing on the race at hand, then your competition has already got you beat."

Until last year, Ruttman had finished in the top 10 in every race the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series had ever run at the New Hampshire International Speedway. But last year, much like last week, an engine failure ended Ruttman and the team's day.

"I know we're going to be tough here," said Ruttman. "We've had some bad luck over the last few weeks and even here last year. But I've got to believe that as hard as this Dana team has been working, we'll get this monkey off our back."

Phoenix Winner: The Dana Racing team and driver Joe Ruttman will be running their favorite truck (Catfish) at Loudon, New Hampshire this week. It is the same truck Ruttman drove to victory on another one-mile flat track, Phoenix International Raceway, back in March of this year.

Streaks: Joe Ruttman and the Dana team enter this weekend's event looking to end one streak and continue another. Ruttman is hoping to end a streak of four races in a row without a top 10 finish. Accidents and engine problems have been the team's undoing here lately.

However, the team would like to stretch the streak of top five qualifying attempts to three this weekend.

"It's hard to believe that it's been four races without a top 10 finish," said Ruttman. "Every race, we're right in there for a good finish and something happens to the truck. Hopefully we can end that streak this week."

Boss Man: The New England 200 will be the fourth time this year that Ruttman and team owner, Bobby Hamilton, race together. They competed earlier this year at Daytona, Martinsville, and Memphis. The two of them will also race together at Richmond International Raceway later this year.

Ruttman's Quotes for New Hampshire International Speedway

"I would say I like racing at New Hampshire. I've had some good runs here. Unfortunately, I have never been able to win here, so I can't say I love the place either."

"I'm always excited about racing with the boss man. I always learn something when we race together. It's good because we can drive each other's truck and we can compare notes. Maybe we can run together for most of the day and decide the win among ourselves."

Text provided by David Pepper

Editors Note: To view hundreds of hot racing photos and art, visit The Racing Photo Museum and the Visions of Speed Art Gallery.